Ezra 9:12 "Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever."
Give and Take
What are you going to leave your children? Since you don't know when you are leaving your children, what you leave them is pretty important! And there is much more involved than just leaving money to your children. The people Ezra speaks to in chapter 9 were at risk for leaving nothing valuable to their children. He said, "Now therefore give not . . . neither take . . . that ye may . . . leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever."
What you will leave your children is a predetermined answer. That is, what you give and what you take determines what you leave. You do not leave what you want to leave; you leave what you give, take, and plan to leave. With this truth in mind, do not give what you cannot afford to lose. The people in Ezra 9 were giving their daughters to intermarry with the pagans of the land. We can certainly see this in marriages, but the truth extends to our entire lives. Don't give what you can't afford to lose!
Second of all, do not take what you cannot afford to own. These people were owning something that God could not own. Again, this started primarily with marriage and "tak[ing] their daughters unto [their] sons," but if God can't own it, why in the world would you want to? What kind of blessing can you expect from God for something He would not own? Don't take the world's ways, priorities, or gods-don't take what you can't afford to own!
Third of all, leave your kids better than you found them. I don't just mean how you found them at the hospital! Leave your children an inheritance. If you leave your kids a million dollars, but they don't have a lick of common sense and heavenly wisdom, that is a recipe for failure. Most importantly, leave your kids God. A godly heritage and life of obedience and service to our Heavenly Father is the greatest inheritance you can leave.
What you give and what you take determines what you leave. Don't give what you can't afford to lose. Don't take what you cannot afford to own. Start early; start often. Don't just leave your children money, a house, or other material goods. Leave them the most important and longest-lasting inheritance: God.
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