Most of us, to some degree or another, live with a conviction that we control our possessions because we earned them. At the most, we’ll admit that, yeah, where we were born and when we were born and into what socio-economic circumstance we were born plays a role in the stuff we have. But even then, we attribute what we have to our own hard work. God may provide the raw materials. But it’s still up to me to make the most of it. So these are my possessions. And I do with them what I please.
Listen, when the Bible speaks about blessings or wealth, it doesn’t talk about some vague sense of having it pretty good. Scripture puts it in terms of very specific acts and very specific gifts of the one true and living God.
“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” ~1 Corinthians 4:7
It’s like the people who work for Publisher’s Clearing House. I’ve read interviews with the people who actually award those big winners checks. They get to fly around the country and knock on the doors and give away 25-million dollars or 100-million dollars to unsuspecting strangers. And they love their job. They change people’s lives. They bring untold joy and happiness with every interaction.
You know why they love their job? They’re not giving away their own money. They’re giving away the company’s money.
The money in your checking account is Kingdom money. It’s not yours. The money in your retirement fund or in your savings account, the money in your pocket right now doesn’t belong to you. It’s God’s. We’re all playing with house money.
God is the giver of everything you have. God is responsible for all of it. And that doesn’t mean we care less about our possessions. It means we care so much more about God’s purposes in giving us all these gifts, which, ironically, is to use them to bless others.
Peace,
Allan
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