July 15, 2010
Possessions
I recently visited with a woman who, when her husband passed away, was left with land, farming equipment and livestock. “We always talked in terms of it being our land, our livestock, and our property. The truth was that it wasn’t ours, it really belonged to the bank.” Taking her thought a step further she added, “And in reality it didn’t even belong to the bank either, it all belongs to God.” She has a great point. Many of us try to figure out the loopholes to keep the government from putting their hand in our pocket and taking our money. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that even if they take it, it really isn’t theirs either…it all belongs to God.
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Gail;
-----We must be careful with our perception of everything belonging to God. Indeed it does. The fact that we pass out of this life with nothing material, not even our bodies, verifies God’s ultimate ownership of all things. But the ownership of property is not a simple concept. It consists of a set of severable rights. One can have the right to control the use of a thing without having the right to modify it, or without having the right to the income it may produce. One may have the right to control it, modify it, and enjoy its income today, but not tomorrow. Moreover, one may or may not have the right to give or sell any of these rights to another. A bank has certain interests in a mortgaged property, too, but definitely not all the rights of ownership. If a significant part of a property’s value comes from a building, the demolition of that building would damage the bank’s security interest in the mortgage, and therefore the bank would have the final say in whether or not you may demolish the building. But the bank can not bring all of its computers and employees to that building and use it for a branch office. You still own the property, and the bank must go through a legal process called “foreclosure” before it can have your home. In a similar way, it is very important to recognize that God has given to us many rights of ownership in the things we call ours.
-----The Bible speaks of all the wealth Job owned in property, homes, beasts, and servants. God indeed allowed Satan to destroy his wealth, but it was God who gave it back to him. Proverbs is replete in acknowledgements of wealth and prosperity given to those who live upright lives. So also Peter acknowledged Ananias’ and Sapphira’s rightful ownership of both the home they sold and the proceeds of its sale, as well as their right to give only a portion or all of those proceeds for the benefit of others. They died because their control of the property they owned expressed the falsehood they were, not because they exercised that control.
-----An artist owns the paint and canvas upon which he paints. He uses them in such a manner that others can see what he thinks and believes. Likewise, God has given us ownership in the stuff we have for the same purpose of painting what we think and believe. Even though God owns our bodies and has even purchased our very souls with a price, we are given willful control of them to make our paintings. Lest we paint the grim picture of starvation, we must as well own some food to eat. We must own some clothes to wear, a shelter to avoid freezing to death, and some other things necessary to keep earning these life sustaining basics. If these things were owned by another, say the government, and only distributed to us according to strict terms about what we think and do, then we would be painting much less of who we are and more of what the government is. For many who desire to paint only of their own selves, that might not be a bad idea. But for those of us who wish to paint the things of God, it is an atrocious idea. Yes, everything belongs to God. Yet He needs us to own and willfully use what He gives so He can evaluate our own selfishness or generosity painted into our pictures.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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