Psalm 24
Haggai 2:6-9 (esp. 8)

“The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth.” – attributed to Chief Seattle

Think about all the things we “own.” We have clothes, an iPod, shoes, books, a computer, a car, a surfboard and nifty North Face pack. A lot of time goes toward their acquisition and care.

Our flat screen, our PC (or Mac), our mountain bike, our oriental rug, our jewelry, our Peruvian masks. How much emotion and thought orbit the attainment, preservatoin and maintenance of these objects?

Who possesses whom? Do they perhaps possess us? Perhpas they are not ours at all?

What if we acknowledge it all to belong to God? Our cars. Our houses. Our land. Our electronic gadets. Ous stylish footware, as well as our Air Force Ones. He owns our boats, our X-Boxes, and our closets of clothes. This stuff doesn’t belong to us; it’s the Lord’s. The documents we call scripture refer to God’s possession of, well, everything.

In addition to the above, Psalm 50:10-11 speaks of this: “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand (read: infinite) hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.”

If it all belongs to Him, we needn’t worry. If it doesn’t belong to us, why bear the anxiety? We cannot lose what we do not really have.

Should we mistreat what He’s put in our hands? Certainly not; that would betray the gift. And besides, it’s not ours to abuse. So care for it without living for it. Better yet, leave things better than you found them. The real owner will appreciate it.

Will the world end if someone steals from us? No. When we held it, we did not own it; when we hold it no more, nothing has changed.

What can we do if everything belongs to God? We can share. We can give. We can use whatever shack or mansion we inhabit to care about, give to and entertain others.

We can also walk free of believing our net worth rests in perishables. What were we thinking? Now we can think of other matters, matters of real import, like people, relationships and ideas.

Either our things belong to God, or we belong to my things. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking another way exists. Someone owns everything, and it is never us.

How do my possessions own me? How do they dictate my days?
What are the implications of believing something is God’s?
If I weren’t thinking about my stuff and money, or myself, what would I think about?