A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)
I have some problems with this one. One of the greatest sources of pain in my life is the fact that I have to depend on Dad. My goal from the time I was a child was that I was going to take care of Mom. I was going to provide her with a home, with food, with everything she needed. The problem isn’t that Dad’s here and Mom isn’t, the problem is that I don’t have the funds to care for him the way I wanted to care for Mom. As his caregiver, it's not that I don't earn my living, it's that he is paying it. It’s not that he doesn’t have money. It’s that I don’t, and because of that, I feel like a bad daughter. I’m not claiming this is a reasonable or realistic way of seeing things. But when I hear that a good person leaves an inheritance for their grandkids – it’s just the reverse of my heart’s longing.
But, Scripture says what it says, and my emotions aside, it’s time to look at what it says. I have an issue there, too. Is this saying that anyone who is good is going to be a billionaire? History doesn’t bear that out. I’ve written about wealth and goodness before, and I think it applies here, too. The inheritance that a good person leaves may be nothing more than his goodness. This idea brings to mind the people who remembered my mother when I went to work where she’d worked more than ten years earlier. “I remember your mother,” they said. “She was a nice lady.” That was her inheritance to me there. My response then was, “Yes, she was, but I’m not like her.” I wasn’t. I’m still not. Mom didn’t express her opinions. I do, but there are times I think I might be becoming more like her – more of her influence, and therefore her inheritance coming into play.
But how is it that a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous? One way that comes to mind is that the victims that are the family of the sinner may turn away from his sin, and become the righteous ones in question. Another way is that even though he does nothing for his family, society as a whole may benefit from what he does. A sinner, for example, can still be a farmer, a lawyer, a doctor while still being a horrible parent and providing nothing of value to his children.
But, Scripture says what it says, and my emotions aside, it’s time to look at what it says. I have an issue there, too. Is this saying that anyone who is good is going to be a billionaire? History doesn’t bear that out. I’ve written about wealth and goodness before, and I think it applies here, too. The inheritance that a good person leaves may be nothing more than his goodness. This idea brings to mind the people who remembered my mother when I went to work where she’d worked more than ten years earlier. “I remember your mother,” they said. “She was a nice lady.” That was her inheritance to me there. My response then was, “Yes, she was, but I’m not like her.” I wasn’t. I’m still not. Mom didn’t express her opinions. I do, but there are times I think I might be becoming more like her – more of her influence, and therefore her inheritance coming into play.
But how is it that a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous? One way that comes to mind is that the victims that are the family of the sinner may turn away from his sin, and become the righteous ones in question. Another way is that even though he does nothing for his family, society as a whole may benefit from what he does. A sinner, for example, can still be a farmer, a lawyer, a doctor while still being a horrible parent and providing nothing of value to his children.
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