God Is the Owner

March 7, 2019

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1

Our family is blessed to go on a giant family vacation every year. When my husband and I were setting up our future goals long before we had children, we wrote on a little index card the things we valued and wanted to see happen. As we learned from others older and wiser, we added steps to our goals. Today as he has been in heaven for five weeks, it is one of the greatest joys of my life to be able to say that God was absolutely faithful to us. We made some mistakes, but God helped us get back on track as we made new choices, and all those original goals were met before he left us for heaven.

One of the top goals was that we would have a family that enjoyed each other and made awesome memories together. To tangibly put that in place, we chose to have a wonderful family vacation together every year, to spend time and make memories that would happen in no other way. I am awed and grateful to say that in June, we will be doing it for the 45th year, honoring my husband especially this year. We will once again be in a great big house and love and laugh in special ways for a week.

Two things I want to say about that. One is that we highly value the homes in which we stay. We recognize they are not ours, but are loaned to us for our pleasure while we are there. We can responsibly use everything, simply remembering that it is on loan. That is an attitude that today’s Scripture speaks about. Everything we have in this life actually belongs to God. He is thrilled to loan it to us, but we want to take special and grateful care of it, knowing that He has shared His own resources with us for His and our pleasure.

The second is that the way we managed God’s resources is what has enabled the yearly vacation. Numerous years of our lives I was a stay-at-home mother. My husband and I have both been pastors without overtime pay or any of the other means that people typically use to pay for pleasure expenses. But we learned God’s principles and followed them. We tithed and gave; we saved for our goals. We gave up small things to go for the big things. We have always chosen to drive used cars and drive them as long as possible. Small choices that added up to great memories. We found out that God owns it ALL. He is delighted to share with us when we use His resources responsibly.

• Ask God to help you live with the awareness that everything is His.