Did you know it has been said that when wealth is attained, usually, by the third generation, 90% of the time, the wealth is completely lost. While it is right for a man/woman to be driven by leaving an “inheritance” to the third generation, it turns out that’s the generation that may apparently need that wealth the most, since they may have no idea of what it took to build it by then. I’ve heard many wealthy people make the statement, “I leave nothing behind, I’ll spend all my own money while I’m alive, that way I don’t have to worry about people acting fool-hearted with what I put aside for them.”
The truth is that, sadly, most times, the person who went through all the work and effort to put aside something for the coming generation doesn’t take the time to invest in that generation the wisdom and grace it took to get to that level.
In Gen 48, Jacob appears sickly and weak. He knows his date of departure from the earth is coming soon. Like his dad, Isaac did with him and his brother Esau, he called for Joseph, his beloved son. He appears to have two intentions: one, to take Manasseh and Ephraim and make them his own sons by adoption, and two, to give instruction on where he wants to be buried.
By the way, it’s good to make arrangements for your day of departure. You cannot have what you want if others who can provide it don’t know your wishes.
When Jacob goes to bless Manasseh and Ephraim, he does something that Joseph is so upset by that he reacts by physically correcting his dad. Joseph has in mind what’s “normally” done by patriarchs, but he forgets God can change the order of things whenever He gets ready. Teaching us, it’s not really about the order of birth. Firstborn blessings were huge in those days. Perhaps Joseph wanted to leave some property and things behind for the men he and Asenath bore, but all that changed in one moment. Jacob was taking ownership of the sons Joseph bore in Egypt, without even their consent, because it was about preserving eternity. A multitude of nations would come from Ephraim. The reason he was placed before Manasseh, even though Manasseh was firstborn, was to preserve eternity, not necessarily legacy. There would be far more to come from Ephraim, and the blessing would be necessary for the people who were more numerous and could continue the legacy.
Here are some thoughts for you to take away from this chapter:
While it’s not popular, we should all spend time considering not only how we will live, but since it is inevitable, how we will die.
Everyone should discuss their wishes for their remains after they leave this earth. The earthly bodies we’re given are temporal; we should remain mindful that there are eternal bodies to inhabit after these.
Let us try not to be so caught up in the “usual” order of things, and be more flexible to change. The methods can change, the message cannot. It must always be about God’s glory.
If we are to have a GOoD Life.. let us glean from these precepts that we must plan well for the life after this one, and share with as many people as possible about the one to come
GOoD-Life Pre-Cepts
KeviJ
