We have recently discussed such topics as: “What’s That in Your Hand?”, “Investing,” and “Generational Wealth.” Your kind responses have encouraged me to press on a little bit more with the subject of wealth and inheritance.
Black’s Law Dictionary describes estate as: “. . . a word of the greatest extension, and comprehends every species of property, real and personal.” It describes inheritance as: “. . . an estate in things . . . descending to the heir.” In other words, your inheritance is everything you have received from someone else.
If someone approached you and asked, “How did you get everything you have today?” You would probably reply rather quickly, “I worked for it, Dummy – how’d you get yours?”
You are to be commended for your honesty! But perhaps, the question could be answered with a little more depth. More accurately, it could be stated: “You TRADED for all your acquired possessions.”
When you get up in the morning and start your work day for that favorite employer of yours, you simply trade your skills and time for something known as a paycheck which you give to some kind of a banking institution that allows you to parcel out amounts, that you then trade, to other individuals or enterprises for things you want and need. You may alter this routine at times, but basically, the principle is fundamental.
But as you trace the steps backward, you still come again to the ultimate question . . . “Where did you get the basic commodities that you used as trading material for everything else you wanted and needed?” Short answer – THEY WERE GIVEN TO YOU.
You did not purchase your time allotment which you now hold as a possession . . . It was given to you.
You did not negotiate for your basic physical characteristics . . .You inherited them.
You did not bargain on the open market for your basic intellectual capacities . . . You received them as a gift.
You did not ardently go to battle and finally win the power to choose . . . That power was given to you.
Even the environment in which you move and perform your trading activities came to you as . . . part of your inheritance.
It is of extreme importance for you to recognize that everything you now possess was received directly as a gift or was the by-product of a GIFT EXCHANGE.
One of the often-overlooked phrases used in Christ’s parable of the “Talents” (Matthew 25:14-30), reveals the true origin of all possessions: “To one HE GAVE five talents: To one HE GAVE two: To one HE GAVE one. The simple but all-encompassing phrase, “HE GAVE,” can be traced to the beginning of time . . . the complex concept, “HE GAVE,” reaches beyond the limitation of our imagination.
Ultimately, there is only one source of all possessions, one “sole proprietor” of all that exists, whether ordinary or yet to be discovered. That one sole proprietor is Jehovah God – “Yahweh” – the One who describes himself as: “I am that I am” – equally: past, present, and future:
The Giver of every Good and Perfect Gift