Inheritance

These verses stuck out to me in my scripture study:

O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?"
Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The Lord.
Jeremiah 16:19-21

It made me really happy. There are so many lies, false traditions, false assumptions and paradigms and world-views that we receive from the generations before us. I cheer for the Gentiles in these verses that have the courage to say "Wait a second...what I've learned doesn't make sense." And then they turn to God to find out the truth for themselves. I try to do that about everything I can, not just religious things, and I hope that everyone else does or would be willing to do it too.

There are many people that simply inherit the ideas of a political party without ever critically thinking about it themselves (my pet peeve with Republicans and Immigration). There are many that inherit the disciplining patterns of their parents without ever evaluating its effectiveness or its morality. There are many people that inherit their values from society (yikes). There are many people that simply inherit all their knowledge from the public school system without ever filtering, examining, researching, or critically thinking about the things they are being taught. There are many that inherit a negative attitude and outlook on the world and everything in their life. Many people inherit a false idea about God that leads them to be angry and reject Him or even the idea of His existence. And of course there are many that inherit an unclear understanding of religion, and God's will for us in these days.

Some of the things that we inherit are good and should be kept. I'm not advocating that everyone turn away from everything their parents, society, or the school system ever taught them. But each of us has the responsibility to think, and to pray, and to learn, and continually search for truth. I've found that for me personally, God is the source of truth, and so I know that I can always turn to Him, and He will help me find the truth about all different kinds of things. I don't often find answers immediately. Rather than just telling me the answers, He helps me know where to look for answers, and gives me reassurances in my heart when I have found something that's true, and feelings of yuckiness when something is definitely not true. Through His Holy Spirit I've learned so many things I wouldn't know otherwise.

I also know that anyone can find truth, if they want it. Even if someone does not believe in God right now, if they are willing to explore and find out if He does exist, He will find a way to let them know. If they sincerely want to understand more about who He is, He will let them know. If they sincerely want to know what He wants them to do in this life, He will let them know. I testify He will help any honest, sincere seeker of the truth to find the truth.

I have found a great deal of truth, and I plan to keep finding more with God's help. Feel free to ask me about the truth that I've already found. =)

I hope we can all have the courage to break the chain or the cycle when we realize we've "inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." We can change, and though it might be hard at times, we'll find great joy in doing so. And our children will be grateful to inherit truth instead.