PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Yesterday, we finished a 7-part series “Things We Can’t Buy.” We covered Time, Health, Friends, Dreams, Happiness, Love, and Hope. As I worked on this, the more I thought of other things we could have added. Respect. Family. Patience. Kindness. Talent. Success. Common Sense. We could keep this one going for a long time. But it all boils down to this—we can’t buy anything. So let’s do one more, but switch from the intangible to the tangible.
Everything we have comes from God. And we are just His stewards.
Deuteronomy 10:14 CSB says, “The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.” And in Psalm 50, God speaks, “for every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine” (Psalm 50:10-12 CSB). And again in Job 41:11b CSB, God said, “Everything under heaven belongs to me.”
He declared it, now it’s up to us to believe it. We can follow the example of King David who, after giving literally tons of gold and silver for the building of the temple… and collecting more from other leaders in the community, prayed, “Riches and honor come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your own hand” (1 Chronicles 29:12-14 CSB).
With that said, and that perspective in mind, our things need to be looked at from a less emotional perspective. When I think of this, I’m reminded of a Karen Ehman book I read a few years ago called, “Listen, Love, Repeat.” It is a great book on Christian hospitality and sharing our gifts from God with others. She wrote about her things in the chapter called “Chipped Crock-Pots and Stained Carpets” and said, “…they don’t really belong to me. They are God’s. What happens to them while they are being used here on Earth to build His kingdom is not my concern. My concern should be with my attitude toward using these things to reach out to others.”
We may buy the land our house sits on, but it belongs to Him. I may buy a new appliance in the kitchen with money I made but it’s His. Every fiber of our being, including the next breath we take belongs to God because He is the one who breathed life into us (Genesis 2:7).
Who are we to not give it back to Him or use it for His purpose?
Today, as you pray, thank God for all that He created and all He has given. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be a good steward of all He has entrusted to you and recognize the true ownership of your “stuff.” Ask Him to help you use what you have to the glory of God.
