The World and Everything in It

This is my Father's world and to my listening ears

All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world, oh rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, His hands the wonders wrought.

This song has been swirling through my head for two days as I have been thinking about creation and to Whom it truly belongs. We have it stuck in our consciences that because we have paid and/or are paying for a particular piece of land that it makes it ours. The bank thinks it belongs to them until the day we pay the last penny of the mortgage and the government believes it is theirs to tax until the day we die. So whose is it really? Truth is, we are all vying over something that was never really ours in the first place. We did not form anything with our words, our hands or even our thought processes. God created the world and everything in it (Acts 17:24), therefore it all belongs to Him. However, being the gracious, all loving and generous God that He is, He allows us to live here rent and mortgage free. He simply asks us to take care of it while we are here. (Genesis 2:15)

Then there is the attitude of “it's mine because I made it, so I can do with it whatever I choose.” However, if we really stop to think about it, where did the materials we used to make said item come from? Did we create the tools we used? Did we make the trees that were carved into paintbrushes, shovel handles, etc.? Did we create the plants the dyes came from to make into paints, crayons, chalk, etc.? Just what did we REALLY make? We took items from God's creation and formed them into something new, but the something new doesn't change the fact that everything it is made of belongs to the God of all creation. I read a joke the other day that made me chuckle: A scientist challenged God to a man-making contest to see who could create the best human.  As the scientist bent down to scoop up a handful of dirt, God said, "No, No.  Get your own dirt."

Going even deeper, everyone on the face of the earth has most probably said or thought at one time or another, “It's my body and I'll do with it as I please.” Some go further with this in thinking, “If I want to over eat or eat just junk food, be lazy, have sex with whomever I want whenever I want, do drugs, speak words that or vile, disheartening or flat out lies, steal, have an abortion, etc., what is that to anyone? I'm not hurting anyone but myself and it's my body!” Of course we all know that these things do not just hurt those doing them. They hurt every single person that loves them, all those they bring into their playing field and most of all, God. Why God? Because our bodies actually belong to Him. He created them to house us and how we treat them reveals to Him how much or how little we appreciate and are grateful to Him for giving them to us.

When my children were little I used to get frustrated with them for not picking up after themselves. I wanted them to learn to be grateful for what they had instead of bemoaning what they didn't have.  I wanted a tidy house and they simply were messy. In other words, they were normal children. I tried to teach them to respect the blessings they had or they could lose them. “If you leave your bike in the rain it will rust and be of no use.” “If you leave your favorite toy in the floor it could get stepped on and broken.” It always helped to explain why putting something away was important. However, as they became teenagers the story changed. Suddenly it was “their” room (after all I had been telling them to clean “their” room from the time the were 3) so why couldn't they leave it the way they wanted? I had no response, so I simply closed their doors. When things became so bad I couldn't stand it, I would go in and clean their rooms myself and then have to listen to the complaints. I wonder what would have happened if I had instead taught them the truth from the beginning (though I hadn't fully grasped it for myself at that time). The house we live in and are paying for doesn't really belong to us. God has given us the means the world demands for us to live here, and out of grateful hearts for His doing so, we need to take care of it and try to make it into the best home we know how. Perhaps they would have learned to appreciate His blessings a little more fully and learned at a much younger age than I that

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths.” Psalm 24:1-2 (NLT)

Father, once again my heart cries out for Your wisdom. Your children hunger and thirst for it even though we may not recognize exactly what it is we are seeking. Open the eyes of our understanding to recognize that the things of this world, though not truly ours, are our responsibility. You have placed us here as guardians over the world You created and we have failed miserably. Forgive us and heal us from the sin of greed in thinking that ANYTHING, including our bodies, could possibly belong to us. Help us understand that in this realization is not slavery or bondage, but freedom; freedom to do and be everything for which You have created us. As long as we are striving to “get more toys” we are enslaved to the very things we are trying to obtain!! It all boils down to trust Lord. How much do we dare trust You to provide for us? Our flesh wants to be provider, but You have told us in Your Word that You are Provider – all we need do is trust. (Philippians 4:19) Help us to choose trust over greed, freedom over enslavement, You over self. You are God alone!