40 Days In The WordSample

Have You Claimed Your Inheritance? You have an inheritance coming to you. If you read God’s Word, the Bible promises one for you. The Bible says in Acts 20:32, “I commit you to God and to the Word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (NIV). An inheritance is what you get for being part of a family that’s rightfully yours. Pretend your father is Warren Buffet, and he dies. If you never took the time to read the will, you’d be foolish. You wouldn’t get what was rightfully due to you. You wouldn’t benefit from what belongs to you as a child of Warren Buffet. When you become a follower of Jesus, you’re not just a believer — you’re a belonger. You become a part of God’s family. Family privileges come along with that decision. You have a spiritual inheritance. But if you walked through your entire life and you didn’t know what benefits were available to you as a child of God, that would be sad — and foolish. God wants you to grow and know what’s available to you from him. You need to read the Bible to do that. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The purpose of the Bible is to help you live out the purpose God has for your life; it’s God’s inheritance that’s due to you. God wants you to be thoroughly equipped for what you’ve been made to do. To do that, he does four things through Scripture: • He teaches you. God shows you the path on which you should walk. • He rebukes you. God shows you when you’re off the path. • He corrects you. God shows you how you can get back on the path. • He trains you. God shows you how you can stay on the path. That’s how God’s Word helps you grow and get that great inheritance God has prepared for you. This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.