"An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." (1 Peter 1.4) CHAT IX Our Inheritance "An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." (1 Peter 1.4) WHAT is an heir? A man or boy who comes into possession of a big house, or money, or property when the owner of it dies. Have you ever read a story called "Little Lord Fauntleroy?" It is about a little boy in America who came over to England and found out he was heir to an Earldom. His inheritance was a very big one. Sometimes quite poor men suddenly come into an inheritance, for which they are utterly unfitted. I remember a story of a tramp doing this. And when he was placed in the big house which was part of his inheritance, he was miserable. At last he came to his lawyer and said: "Look here, I'm an uneducated man, and I'm only happy amongst my own kind. The servants wait on me, but they despise and laugh at me. I sit in a library full of books—I can't understand one of them, and I'm not a reader. There's a place they call an observatory, where you're supposed to study the stars. I can't use it, for I'm ignorant of it all. There's a music room, but what is the good of piano or organ to me, when I can't play a note. There's a museum and a picture gallery. I don't care for either. I haven't been educated enough to understand them. And the big people round who come to call on me, terrify me. We haven't a thought in common. You'll have to sell the house and property, and give me the money. I'll spend it in drink and food amongst my friends." Poor man! Don't you feel sorry for him? He wasn't able to enjoy what belonged to him, for he had not been trained in the right way. [Illustration: CHAT VII. "Think about this seriously."] [Illustration: Pictures to Paint—7. WHAT NEW TESTAMENT SCENE IS THIS?] Now, boys and girls who love the Lord Jesus are all heirs to an inheritance. What does the Bible say? That through Jesus, who died to get it for us, we have "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." We can't all look forward to coming into an inheritance on earth, but we can look forward to one in Heaven. It is being reserved or kept for us there. Now, if we aren't prepared in this life for that inheritance, we shall be like that poor tramp: we shall be very miserable when we get there. And that is just why God sent us into this world of trouble, and pain, and difficulty, to train us and teach us and prepare us for our inheritance.