And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…; – Romans 8:17, KJV

We often forget just what we inherit when God adopts us into His family. My friend Jack, who just finished an 8-week study of the Book of Ruth for our Sunday School class, illustrated this point beautifully with his rendition of the “Fifth Chapter of Ruth.” Although Ruth has only four chapters, Jack’s fictional fifth chapter was a gem. It went something like this:

The morning after the marriage ceremony, Boaz awoke to find himself alone in bed. He softly called Ruth’s name while searching the house, but Ruth did not answer. Puzzled, he went into the fields, and there he found his bride. Ruth, dressed in the same, tattered garments she wore when they first met, was gleaning food from the fields. Boaz approached and asked his bride, “What are you doing?” Ruth replied, “I’m hungry, my husband, so I came to the fields to gather my food.” Boaz, with a gentle, loving smile replied, “My dear, you no longer have to fend for yourself. You are my family now, and what is mine is yours. Come back home, and enter into your rest.”

We, like the Ruth of Jack’s fictional Chapter 5, are prone to forget that, as children of God, we are heirs to the kingdom of the Creator. In Christ we have perpetual access to our Protector and to our Provider, but we act like we are alone and on our own in this world. Yet, at our fingertips is God’s provision, and all we need do is recognize and lay hold upon that fact. When we do, God gives us rest in our souls and spirits, even when our outward circumstances are difficult to bear.

Will we always have what we want? No. Will our circumstances always be pleasant? No. Will God ever abandon us? Absolutely not, and that is where our comfort lies. We have been grafted into God’s family, and as members of His family we have access to all that He is and all that He has. Granted, we won’t receive all of our inheritance until we step foot in Heaven. Until then, however, we have all of the supernatural grace and all of the heavenly provision we need to make it in this world.

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