Mine

    One of the basis's for our Western culture is the concept of "mine," or ownership. You I am certain know exactly what I am talking about: I own the computer that I am typing on, meaning that it is mine, not yours. If you wish to use it, you must ask me for permission to do so. We would consider it wrong of you to just take my computer and do what you wish with it without my acquiescing to it wrong.

    This is of course not true across cultures. Much of the issues that sparked he Indian Wars that dominated the 19^th century here in America stem from different concepts of ownership. The Native Americans did not believe that anyone could "own" the land whereas Americans did. You can see how this different understanding could spark a major conflict.

    Now this raises the question I wish to address in this post: do we really own anything? Is the concept of private ownership something that the Bible teaches? Or does ownership belong elsewhere?

    Psalms 50 answers this question quite clearly when it says in verse 12, "If I (Yahveh) hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and everything in it." So Yahveh owns everything, which make sense because he is the one who made it all. But if everything is Yahveh's, then logically nothing is ours.

    Jesus tells parable that echoes this point in Matthew 25:14-30. In this story, there is a wealthy man who goes on a long journey and leaves some of his wealth in the hands of his servants or stewards. One man gets five talents, another two, and the third gets one. The first two servants double the wealth of their master while he is away, whereas the third simply buries it in the ground. When the man returns, he is naturally pleased with the first two stewards and quite displeased with the third.

    There are many points that can be drawn from this story, but there is one question I want to ask: whose money was it? Was it the servants' or the master's? The obvious answer is of course that the money is the master's money. His servants are merely caretakers of his wealth while he is away.

    That is us. We are Yahveh's stewards, his caretakers. Everything, the Bible says, is his. This means that nothing is ours. Not our wealth, not our time, not even our lives. Us being Yahveh's servants is something that the Bible writers talk about a lot. In the Old Testament, the prophets and kings talk to Yahveh saying "your servant." They meant it. Paul writes in Romans 6 that as Christians we are "servants to righteousness." Over one book in 1^st Corinthians, he adds that we are not our own, but are bought with a price. The point is that we are not our own, but servants of Yahveh who have been left to take care of his earth.

    Let us take a look back at Creation. Genesis 1 tells us that Yahveh placed us in this world to "rule over it." Ellen White in Patriarchs and Prophets explains that our role in this was to be caretakers of the world, to bend and shape into something pleasing and beautiful to Yahveh. He has always been the overlord of our earth. It is not ours, but his.

    This understanding forces us to go through a major paradigm shift in how we understand the world we live in. For so many of us we have this attitude of there is Yahveh's and there is mine. Think of how we treat tithe, Sabbath, and even our devotions. We give ten percent to Yahveh and the ninety percent is mine to do with as I wish. One day I give to Yahveh and the other six days I do what I want. I give Yahveh thirty minutes of my time in the morning and the rest of the day is mine to do with as I wish.

    But when we understand that everything is Yahveh's and I am merely his steward, then the concept of mine no longer exists. That ten percent, one day, thirty minutes are reminders of who owns the rest, not taxes that we pay before moving on with our lives.    This paradigm shift changes how we approach life and how we live it. The question is no longer "what do I want?". The question is now "what does Yahveh want?".

    Think about devotions. Most of us approach them as a ten-thirty minute exercise we go through in the morning to get some inspiration for the day. After that, the rest of my time is my own. But stop and the think about what devotions mean. Look at the word "devotion." It means "profound dedication" or "earnest attachment to a cause or a person" (dictionary.reference.com). Devotion equals serving, which makes it a way of life, not something we do once a day and are done with it.

    Look at some of the heroes from the Bible. Elijah and Moses, the two greatest prophets of the Old Testament, lived lives devoted to Yahveh. Oddly you do not hear of them spending any time in what we consider "devotions." What you do hear is them constantly asking "What do you want me to do Yahveh?" It was never about them, it was always about Yahveh.

    Enoch is said to have walked with Yahveh right into heaven. The Apostles were constantly being direct by the Spirit. Many of them gave everything they had away because that is what they were directed to do. Others cheerfully died because that is what Yahveh needed them to do. They were not their own, but his.

    Then there is Jesus himself. He claimed ownership over nothing, not even a place to lay his head. Jesus went even so far as to say that his will was not his own. Jesus was completely devoted to Yahveh and his plan (John 8:28,29).

    So there is no such thing as mine because everything is Yahveh's. I am just his steward. This means everything, my wealth, my time, my energy, my very life are his to be used for his glory and benefit and not my own. Therefore, live your life as it ought to be lived: not yours, but devoted completely to the one who truly owns it, Yahveh.