We
have the ability to renounce our citizenship. We can voluntarily give up our
rights and the protections afforded us citizens of a nation. In fact, giving up
citizenship is one of the ways that some people are trying to avoid all the
taxes and regulations that are about to hit us here in the USA.
During
Biblical times, there were many laws about inheritance and the transfer of
wealth and property from one generation to the next. They might not have had
the army of lawyers that exist today, but they still had rules. One of the rules
was that relatives had priority over hired help when things were divided up.
Children had first rights over the inheritance. Servants had no rights to
inheritance.
There
was one exception to this rule: if the children were rebellious, their rights
to property could be withdrawn. The parents could then choose someone else to
receive the children’s portion. To put it another way, it pays to be a faithful
servant if there are rebellious children.
We
might not have been born with all the privileges that some others have. Our
past might leave us a little on edge. But faithfulness now does make a
difference. And in reality, now is all we have. We can’t change where we were
born, or who our parents were, but we can do the right things now.
If
we have the natural rights, then we need to use them wisely. We do have the
ability to give them up. We can do this by acting irresponsibly, not taking
into account that we are His children.
We
have the choice.