Heirs of the Kingdom

Today I read Galatians 4 which I found pretty interesting. Paul starts out by talking about heirs and how until the heir is of age, they are no better than the servant. He states this because when an heir is young they have to be taught all the things that they need to learn in order to inherit. So even though they are heirs, they are not given preferential treatment, but expected to work and to earn their own way.

I agree with Paul's assessment. As far as we are heirs and so we are not going to be treated like heirs because we are not ready to inherit. This life is meant to teach us so that we can learn and grow and be ready to inherit all that the Father hath. That even though we are His heirs, we are not given special treatment but are expected to earn our inheritance. And this truly is the best way. In what other way are we going to be able to be prepared to inherit all that our Father hath if not through careful preparation?

Even Jesus, who was the greatest among us and was the literal Son of God in this life, had to gain His inheritance through the things that He suffered according to the scriptures. He came to this life to redeem us from death and to make sure that there was a way for us to return to live with Heavenly Father if we so choose. We are all heirs which Paul told us back in Romans but like he has told us in today's reading, being heirs does not mean that we are going to have it easy. Quite the opposite, if we are heirs, a good Father will make sure that we know exactly what those the heir will eventually be over go through. A good father will send his heir out to work the fields or to live with his future people. He does this so that the heir will be able to rule with compassion and understanding. While we will not be ruling over our fellow brethren, if we stay true and faithful to what God asks of us we will eventually become Gods ourselves and will create worlds. If we did not know what it was like to go through mortality, then how would we be able to comfort and guide our future children?

God has a plan and His way is the best way, always. There is always a reason for everything He does, even if it doesn't make sense. Just like a child may not understand why his father insists on his serving in the fields to understand what his people go through, but it makes sense in the end and his heir would not be who he is at the end without all the things he suffered and went through. So too we would not be who we are without the sum of our experiences. Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. We need to trust in Him and do as He asks. Until tomorrow.