Godly Heritage
….. thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
(Psa 128:3)

There is a blessing to our next generation attached to fearing the Lord. Fearing the Lord must not be confused with being frightened which will cause us to stand ‘afar off’; the healthy fear of the Lord draws us to Himself (Exo 20:21). ‘The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.’ (Prov 19:23), what more can we ask for in this state of abundant of life (John 10:10). The key to bringing up children correctly lies with how the father and priest of the family fear the Lord. There is only so much we can discipline, teach and lead to ensure our children don’t end up in moral defeat and lose the Kingdom of Heaven. Earthly fathers who live their lives under this constant relationship with his Father in Heaven will have the assurance of blessing upon their children.

The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: …..
(Jer 11:16)

Olive trees are known for their longevity and some in the Garden of Gethsemane date back to the time of Jesus. The first mention of olive is of the dove that brought a plucked leaf and from that Noah knew that the flood waters were abated, thus signifying the end of God’s judgment by flood and start of a new beginning. The blessing of a father that fears the Lord is that He ensures our children begin as olive plants to become trees who are called by name, signifying a relationship and not by some foreign god.

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree….
(Hos 14:6)

The goodly fruit of the natural olive tree blesses mankind with oil for cooking, lighting, food, cosmetics and medicine. The spread of the olive tree provides protection and shelter to God’s creatures. Our children’s lives can carry the anointing (separation, consecration, spirit led instead of living in the flesh) of God for bearing the Words of Eternal Life, shining as lights in our crooked and perverse nation, bring healing to the nations and praying for the safety of our nation to be spared from God’s judgment.

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
(Psa 127:5)

Twice mentioned was the blessing that the seed of our fathers will possess the gates of the enemies (Gen 22:17, 24:60), the first one from the Lord to Abraham and the second from Rebekah’s brothers, as though ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10). The seed of those who fear the Lord echoing back the heart of the Father. That is the life that our seed are supposed to live, carrying the eternal significance of God’s plan and purposes. Do we live this kind of a life and can we leave such a powerful heritage to our children. The God fearing father would be the ones that ‘that walketh in His way’ (Psa 128:1) which carries the same fatherly spirit that Paul has calling out to ‘be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ’ (1 Cor 11:1). Paul knew because there are already many instructors and not many fathers (1 Cor 4:15), only fathers can truly love sacrificially more than teachers. The father will be the man whom God will use to sharpen the arrow point, straighten the shaft and prepare the fletching so when the Master calls to launch the arrow it will inevitably hit the mark. We don’t want our children to miss the mark or come short (Rom 3:23) of God’s target, which is 'in bringing many sons unto glory' (Heb 2:10) and nothing less of that.