You cannot keep what you did not earn

1 Kings 11-12

David went from a shepherd herding sheep as a young lad to a military commander in battle and finally fulfilled his calling as king over Israel in his later years. There was a journey he went through to get to where God wanted him to be. He knew God through the battles in the field, in the battleground, in the political arena. He knew the failures he had to overcome in order to please God and not men. He learned it all. David journeyed with God.

Not so for his sons.

Solomon was given the kingdom, literally. Solomon came into an inheritance that was reserved for him. Even when his brother tried to take the kingdom away, God preserved it for Solomon, because that was His promise to David. Solomon didn’t know God like David did. Solomon didn’t have to fight through an army of Philistines, didn’t need to behave like a madman to save his life, didn’t have to test his faith by eating the showbread from the temple. He didn’t need to fight through these trials to get to be a king. Solomon had every material thing he needed in life from his birth. He pleased his wives instead of God. He pleased the people instead of God. Ultimately, he regretted his decision at the end of his life and we can only hope that we see Solomon in the inside of heaven. Such was the case for his son, Rehoboam.

In modern times, it’s as if a rich man has reserved his wealth to his sons. And all the sons will know to do is to waste it away. Unless they are made to go through some adversity, unless they learn how to earn things, unless they have a reason in life, unless they found out the hard journey needed to get to a place of fortune, they will not know how to keep them.

The same goes for Kingdom inheritance. No one can reserve a portion of spiritual anointing or gift for you. You got to earn it through your journey with God. If you don’t learn to walk with God, you don’t get to know Him and earn the inheritance. Don’t mistake earthly wealth with God’s inheritance. The two may be the same for some people, where God intended someone to have prosperity in their life for His purposes. But at no point in time is that the standard. Perhaps your lot in life was to devote yourself to missions or planting churches and orphanages so your wealth is never your own. Who’s to say?

The point is:

You do not get to keep what you did not earn.