Grandparents. You have a bit of a reputation, you know. You hand out cookies before dinner. You obey the bedtime plea, “Just one more story!” You fork over change for bubblegum machines and Happy Meals. You hug instead of lecture. You cheerfully push swings, occupy bleachers, make muffins, buy pizza, chauffeur, tutor, and send birthday cards. 

Thank you, dear grandparents, for your legacy of love.

But thank you infinitely more for your legacy of faith. Biblical grandparents left this legacy too. As death neared, Jacob/Israel made it a priority to pray over his grandsons and ask God to bless them: “When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, ‘Who are these?’ ‘They are the sons God has given me here,’ Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, ‘Bring them to me so I may bless them’” (Genesis 48:8,9).

Thank you, grandparents, for all the grandkid prayers that have gone from your hearts to God’s ear. 

In another Bible account, Paul reminded young Timothy that his faith was a legacy from his grandma: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

Thank you, God, for the “sincere faith” that our Christian grandparents have so carefully shared from their laps, over coffee, through the mail, and on the phone . . . so that one day we can share a home with them in heaven. 

What a precious, priceless inheritance.