February 1

And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. — Rom 8:17 BSB

One of the great blessings of being a child of God is that death, which ends the hopes and happiness of those who do not know Him, becomes the fulfillment of all our hopes and the completion of all our happiness. Death brings us into the possession of “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for those who are protected by God’s power through faith for salvation.”

In this life, we sometimes get small glimpses and tastes of being God's children, though they are faint and often interrupted, as Mr. Deer said, “Though you here receive but little, scarce enough for the proof of your proper title.” Yet even these small tastes are promises of an inheritance to come. This life is only a preparation for something better. We are children now, heirs indeed, but still in our minority. In the life to come, if we truly are sons and daughters of the Almighty, we will inherit everything.

And what is this inheritance? It is nothing less than God Himself. As the Apostle says, we are “heirs of God.” Just as God said to Abraham, “I am your shield and very great reward,” and as He said of the Levites, “I am their inheritance,” so God Himself is the inheritance of His people. All of God’s love, goodness, holiness, happiness, glory, and majesty, revealed in the person of His Son in one eternal, unclouded day—this is the inheritance of the saints. So let us not grow weary in doing good, nor tire of running the race set before us with this prize in sight. Instead, let us press on through faith and prayer to receive this eternal, glorious crown.