Do We Own Anything????

Laura and I are co-leading a Crown Financial Ministries class this summer. I highly recommend the course at least once if you can find one, even if you have all your finances in order and will retire by 45. For some of you, that may be in the rearview mirror....not naming names.

One of the primary tenets for the participants involves embracing the knowledge that God owns everything you have. Nothing we "own" is ours. Subsequently, how we maintain what God bestows upon us as stewards completes the course. Not too difficult. We probably have either heard the sermons or preached the sermons dozens of times.

Though it is highly important to focus on our roles as stewards, I find it interesting to think about what, I would propose, that we do "own." In the beginning, God gave Man a gift that he promised never to take back. It is the difference-maker. It's what probably gives God the greatest joys and the ultimate heartbreaks. God gave us free will, the ability and decision to choose.

We all spend countless hours each day, week, month, etc., taking care of our "things." We save them, polish them, vacuum them, put them in glass cases, put them out of reach of little children, horde them, show them off, spend and trade them all because we have and value them. I may be the worst offender. But how much time and effort do we place in nurturing and treasuring what I believe we truly do own? Do we put that much effort to study and learn all we can to make informed, wise, and Godly choices?

Taking that a step further, an offshoot of our free will is our faith. You could make the supposition that FAITH is what is ours and ours alone. God sets the parameters, but we make the choice to either embrace and adhere to it or to reject it. It is our free will. Isn't that the essence of faith? Now, are we stewards of faith as well? Without a doubt! We are called to take the faith into the world and be proper citizens of it. However, our faith is our own. Now the question remains, do we nurture and develop it with the same effort and regard that we do for the things for which we are stewards?