A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have a common bond, the Lord is the maker of them all. Proverbs 22:1-2
My dad used to remind me when having to confront the muckety-mucks, the bigwigs, the really “up there’s,” that they put their pants on the same way I did.
Here the Wise Man points out the obvious, that the Lord made both the rich and poor.
What’s to be coveted, protected at all costs, is your good name.
Everyone’s signed up these days with a service to find their roots. This emanates from a pride in one’s name. You hope to find someone famous in your line. It might be better to not find someone infamous!
I would hope that I check out of this life having not sullied the Reynolds good name.
Now that’s an inheritance you can pass on that will stand the test of eternity, one that “moths and rust will not corrupt.” (Matthew 6:19)