Why I chose The Inheritance as the title of my book

 

When people ask why I chose the title, “The Inheritance,” for my allegory, it really is a multifaceted answer. Today, we often look for comfort. When you think of an inheritance, we want it here and now. But God’s view is eternity. He wants us to have eternal blessing through eternal life, and this is the point of The Inheritance. I wrote it to be a tool used to open doors to talk about the Truth of the Gospel.

Delightful inheritance

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:5-8).

The sixteenth Psalm is a meditation and prayer of David. It starts out as a prayer for preservation. In verse two, he admits he “has no goodness but thee.” Paul admits the same thing in his epistles when he says that our righteousness and goodness is because of God’s work in our lives.

 

I’m a good person–or am I?

Our natural inclination is to think we are good. With that mindset, it is easy to think we can do good deeds to earn our way to heaven. Jejune, the protagonist of The Inheritance, grew up in the village of Lofty Thought where people don’t admit the Condition [sin] exists. They focus on new theories and concepts mingled with philosophies.

Over time, they developed the practice to come up with ideas that steered people away from the orthodox belief in an All Knowing One. As young people in Lofty Thought come of age, they are encouraged to come up with new theories to earn rings worn on their sleeves. When, Jejune, questions how theories that don’t agree can both be right, he is labeled a trouble maker. This is what gives him the courage to leave Lofty Thought to follow the Way Less Traveled.

As he sets out, with his sidekick, Wigglewot, [Jejune’s conscience], he considers himself a good person, and thinks he can gain entrance to the Eternal City in his own power and strength. Needless to say, the journey through the Valley of Shadow is full of lessons that show him how wrong his thinking happens to be.

The path of life

The last verse of Psalm 16 says, You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

The promise of making known the path of life was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In John 14, He said, “Let not your heart be troubled…I’m going to prepare a place for you.” Thomas asked, “How can we know the way.”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6).

Jesus is the path of life. I guess I could have titled my book, The Path of Life, because no one comes to the father in heaven any other way. Jesus is the way to the Father. But for those who have been granted life through Christ, that is The Inheritance.

 About The Inheritance

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions.

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction). When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support.

 

 

Image credits: WELS Net, pxfuel

Why is the mark of the beast on the head or hand?

 

I’m currently reading a book titled, The World Jesus Knew by Anne Punton. It offers a wealth of historical insights from matters of cleanliness, education, and details like why the mezuzah was placed on the doorpost. A mezuzah is a small piece of parchment held in a decorative container with specific verses from Deuteronomy inscribed on the parchment. This fulfilled the command to write the Word of God on the doorpost of the home. 

Jewish phylacteries

Jewish fathers also taught their sons how to wear phylacteries. In case phylactery isn’t a word you know, the general definition is that it is “any charm, spell or amulet worn as a preservative from danger or disease.” But for the Jews, it was and is a small leather box containing Hebrew texts. They are worn by Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law and so they are also referred to as “prayer boxes.” They originated as a reminder to the people that they were to write God’s Word in their heart and hand. This is still practiced by observant Jews today.

 Mark of the beast

As I talked about these things with my husband, he asked, “Where will the mark of the beast be worn?” I had never made this connection. “On the hand or forehead!”

It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name (Rev. 13:16-17).

Even as I said it, I thought of the 144,000 Jewish people who come to Christ during the tribulation time (Rev. 7). They will understand the significance of the placement of the mark of the beast, and in Rev. 14, we see that they have the Father’s name written on their foreheads.

If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath (Rev. 14:9-10).

The mark of the beast will be on the head or hand because it mimics the command of God. It is a way to worship the beast and its image.

My spiritual journey

I wrote the Inheritance because of my own spiritual journey. I grew of in a religious home that practiced many traditions. I had a happy childhood and thought what I believed was the truth. When I had my children, I brought them up in the same tradition. But then, they came home with information that said that some things that were sins when I was growing up, were no longer sin. This put my faith into a tailspin. How can what is sin change? Was it the truth I was taught or something else? And so, in The Inheritance, the main character asks many of the same questions I asked.

 

The Inheritance excerpt

"I admit, I seek the truth," Jejune had conceded. "How can people reach the Eternal City if they don't know how to get there?" He let the three irate men intimidate him and quash his remaining questions. Now he couldn't help but wonder what Pundit Punctilious meant when he spoke of a royal line? Jejune buried this question with the others.

The ever-present hunger for something more lingered. I had hoped this would change today.

Clouds engulfed the cliffs and moved in to hang like a wispy ceiling above the crowd of spectators. Speaker after speaker lectured. The sun worked to burn through the clouds casting elongated intermittent shadows from the onlookers toward the Illuminati.

Jejune's ears itched as he listened to the various theories, some new and some old. How can pivotal points contradict each other and yet be embraced as truth? The Illuminati despised this line of thinking. They taught truth was relative and that no objective, rational basis could be found for moral decisions.

Water splashed in the nearby Fountain of Tradition where young children played without a care. Crystal liquid spilled from the upturned urn held by the faceless, hooded statue some called the Great Thinker, while a few said it represented the All Knowing One. Ancient scrolls taught that the founders built the fountain after escaping life in the Valley of Shadow. The flow of water represented new ideas that made Lofty Thought a village above the rest. Current theories bred controversy, whether or not an All Knowing One was a real entity or an imaginary concept put in place by the Great Thinker to help Lofty Thinkers find themselves.

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 About The Inheritance

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions.

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction). When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support.