Last Is First

Last Is First

Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.

Luke 13:30

A large Amish family may have fourteen or more children. One by one, the children grow. The older sons learn trades, and the daughters marry and start families of their own. In most cultures it is common for the oldest son to receive the majority of an inheritance, but in the Amish culture it’s typically the youngest son who takes over the farm from his father.

Amish land stays within the family, and when the youngest son prepares to start his own family, he usually takes over his parents’ home, and his parents move to an attached apartment or adjacent house called a Dawdy Haus, or a Grossdawdy (granddaddy) Haus. In effect, the last son—the youngest—receives the most. He will also have the responsibility of caring for his parents for the rest of their lives.

You will never find an Amish rest home, and perhaps the greatest inheritance isn’t the property the youngest son receives but the joy of having the extra time with his parents. It is often during people’s latter years—when they don’t have the strength to go full speed ahead in busy lives—that their relationship with God really has time to flourish.

As Psalm 92:12-15 says, “The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, ‘The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!’”

In God’s economy, it’s often the youngest and the weakest who receive the most. In God’s economy, it’s the elderly who flourish and grow in their faith and relationship with Him. In a world that exalts the first and the fittest, it’s important to remember that in God’s economy, those who give are as blessed as those who receive, every time.

Dear heavenly Father, I love how Your economy works. We don’t gain by grasping. Instead we gain by opening our hands and hearts. Help me to do more of both today.