Iron & Altar

"Heirs according to the promise." - Galatians 3:29

Paul ends the chapter with what baptism did. You are all children of God through faith. You have clothed yourselves with Christ. If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise.

A steward who is also an heir tends what he was entrusted with as his Father's house.

For six days you have been a steward, tending what was leased to you. The vineyard was not yours, the faith was not yours, and the field was assigned. Paul adds the last piece. You are not a hired hand. You are a son. A servant works for a wage, and a son works for the house that will be his.

The difference shows in how a man handles disappointment. A hired hand quits when the pay stops, and a son stays because it is home. It shows in how he treats the gift itself. He does not hoard it, and he does not fear losing it. He was given no lease. He was given a name and an inheritance, and the Father has not taken either back.

Read your card tonight, brother. It holds three gifts you did not earn, so say each one aloud, slowly. If someone else in the house is awake, tell them the first one. A man who can name what he received is ready to be asked what he has grown.

Tomorrow the Church reads about a banquet and a wedding garment. Next week the question turns from what was planted to what is bearing fruit.

Read the card aloud, all three gifts. Then write one line on the back: what light you received this week, even if it was small. Tell one person the first gift, the one who planted the faith in you.

Father, you have made me a son and given me a house to tend. Let me work as one who belongs here, and let what I have received become something I can give away. Amen.