Originally posted in a previous blog on January 16, 2007.
My wife and I are currently reading the book Your Money Counts for a small group study that we are co-leading for our church. The study is “The Crown Small Group Study” offered through Crown Financial Ministries.
There is a chapter or two in this book that deal with understanding ownership. Basically, we have to understand who owns everything – and the simple answer is it’s not us. God owns everything! The quicker we can learn this concept the better we will be at managing the assets God gives us to manage (money, vehicles, houses, kids, marriages, work, etc.)
The book discusses how many people – once saved – are willing to give God control of almost everything except their check book. What about you? What are you willing to give to God? Or asked from a different angle, what are you keeping from God?
I was talking with my wife about this today. The book talks of a man whose house burned down (I think John Wesley … but I could be wrong). His response was, “Oh well. One less responsibility for me?” Another story the book uses is about a young man who made a conscience effort to give God everything. He bought a new car. Two days later someone ran into his car. His response was something like “God, now why would you want a dent in your car?” How do you think you would respond?
Here’s the question to ask yourself. I think this question will give you a good idea of where you stand in the ownership category with God. If your house were to burn to the ground (and all of your family members and pets were safe) how would this effect your life? Would you be devastated because of the loss of all the material possessions? Would you be forever miserable because of all the family heirlooms lost? Would you feel as if a piece of you was removed because of all the pictures and videos of the kids that are never to be recovered?
I can’t say 100% for sure how I would respond, but I would hope that these losses would not mentally or psychologically destroy me. I would hope that I could immediately begin to focus on what God is doing, how he is to be glorified, and where he is taking us too.
If you look at Job, his complaint was not a “woe is me, everything I have is gone.” His complaint to God was not even really a “why did this happen?” His complaint was more of a “God, where are you? Why have you left me? Why are you not responding to me?”
What is our focus? What do we cling on to and try to keep away from God? What … if it were forever removed from us … would cause us to curse God or give up on life?
I would encourage you today to begin working at giving that thing to God. I believe we all have those things. It should be our goal to identify them and turn them over. For most, it is probably our money or finances. For others, it could be some material possession. And still for others, it could be family members or friends or loved ones.
Remember that God cares about all those things too, but he is more concerned with each of us being 100% sold out to him and nothing else.
Go with God,
Donald B
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