True Heirs

Cara Wood lived a normal life, working as a waitress during high school.  While working, she befriended a regular customer, Bill Cruxton, and began helping him around his home and running errands.  Because of their friendship, Cruxton changed his will so that Cara, even though she was not a blood-relative, inherited the mass of his fortune: $500,000 (The Register Guard).  

I'm sure there are many more stories like this, in fact, the song "People Are Crazy" by Billy Currington comes to mind: "he left his fortune to some man he barley knew..."

But the best story of all is that of God's fortune.   

Psalm 15:1-2
1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart. 

Simply put, "to [dwell] in the tent of Jehovah is...to be frequently present in the temple [or church]; to be...God's guest and...to have His care and protection" (Gesenius' Lexicon).  The heirs of Christ are not only His guests in the present age with access to His care and protection but will also be His guests eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So who are the true heirs of Christ?  In other words: "1. Who can be considered a fit member of the church of Christ here below? And 2. Who shall be made partakers of an endless glory" (Clarke).

First of all "...men are not entitled...by their birth and blood: all shall not abide in God's tabernacle that have Abraham as their Father" (Henry).  This means that just because you are an Israelite or a Jew does NOT mean you will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven or even have His care in the present world.  There is more to it.

In order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, it comes down to faith.

For by grace you have been saved through faith... (Ephesians 2:8)

Faith, in it's true form, will exude the 3 characteristics listed by David in the Psalm above: integrity, righteousness, and a heart of truth.  For,

...faith if it has no works, is dead, being by itself...You believe that God is one.  You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder...are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? (James 2:17,19-20)

Yes, we are saved by faith.  But true faith results in works.  True faith results in righteousness, in integrity, and in a heart of truth.  In other words, "His mouth speaks nothing but what his heart dictates.  His heart, his tongue, and his hand are all in unison.  Hypocrisy, guile, and deceit have no place in his soul" (Clarke).  

Therefore, the true heirs of the Kingdom of God are those whose hearts portray integrity, righteousness, and truth.  Simply put, "as men's hearts and lives are, so will their lot be" (Henry).

What will your lot be?  If God were to dole out his fortune today - would you be an heir?  Or is your faith dead?