The Legacy JourneySample

Parental Legacy

In Luke 9, Jesus called a man to “follow me.” But when the man asked for permission to bury his father first, Jesus said no.

For a long time, I didn’t understand why Jesus would say that. After all, what’s the big deal about letting the guy go to his dad’s funeral? Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of teaching on this story, and I’ve read a lot of commentaries with different ideas. One of the most interesting explanations came from financial expert Larry Burkett.

According to Burkett, you can’t understand Jesus’ words until you understand that Jewish people see a very strong connection between money and life. So, “dying” might have meant that his father had reached retirement age and was no longer producing an income. At that point, the oldest son would step up and run the family finances, even though his parents were still living.

So when the man said he had to bury his father, he might have been saying, “Let me go take care of my aging parents and get my inheritance. Then, maybe in a few years, I’ll come follow you.”

Scholars might disagree on what the passage means, but I do know one thing: If I knew I was going to pass my wealth to my kids years before I die and my golden years depended on their ability to handle money, I’d make sure they became financial geniuses!

Honestly, that’s how we should be teaching our children about money anyway. The best way to safeguard your legacy is to start passing financial wisdom to your kids from an early age.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses challenged the Israelites to instill God’s truths into their children every chance they got—morning, noon and night. Moses understood that parents are the primary mentors of their children in every area of life, including money.

It’s still true today. So teach your kids to handle money God’s ways—like your life depends on it.

It’s never too early to teach your kids about money. Generation Change is a suite of Bible studies designed to give your teens a strong biblical foundation for life and money.