Who Owns What?

“Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
    Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.” Job 41:11

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you.” 1 Chronicles 29:11-14

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein.”
“Every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.” Psalm 24:1; 50:10

“John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.'” John 3:27

“What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7

As Job wrestled with understanding the God through whose hands every blessing and loss and pain came his way, the Lord reminded him who was sole Proprietor. The statements and rhetorical questions throughout Scripture indicating who owns what all point to the One who made everything. What is imagined and designed is created and owned by the Lord, who generously apportions goods and gifts and even suffering to His people according to His grace. (Job 1:21; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

If we ever have a tussle with the Lord over the condition of our circumstances or waste of a day or use of our things, we can believe, “Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.” Then we might ask, ‘How would You have me spend this money, use this hour, utilize my health, serve Your plan?’ If we pause to consider why we do what we do, and how we’re implementing God’s gifts and resources, we can learn to make decisions through the filter of His honor and our faith rather than selfish wants.

The next time we feel greedy- miserly with money or tight-fisted with belongings or skimpy with our time- we need a reset of thinking. All we handle, use, and manage is a gift from God above for His purposes. If I am a steward of the Lord’s goods, visible and invisible (not a hoarder of my own), I hold them loosely with an ear out for His instruction. (James 1:17)

How does my view of things and time need refocussing? What truth, or friend, will help me unclench my fist on control? How might acknowledgment of God’s lavish grace and true gratitude make for a fresh, generous perspective?

“Fairest Lord Jesus, 
ruler of all nature, 
O thou of God and man the Son, 
Thee will I cherish, 
Thee will I honor, 
thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.” ~ Friedrich von Spee (1677)

Lord, may I honor You with all You’ve entrusted to me, acknowledging You as both Giver and worthy Recipient of all blessing.