Ownership

To rent or to own: that is the question. I remember back in my younger years renting apartment upon apartment because for one I knew my stay was temporary and secondly it was too much of an investment to even consider buying place. There is a difference though in renting and owning.  When you rent you are under the bounds and rules of the actual owner.  You are limited to what you can do, changes you can make and all home decisions have to be syphoned through the hands of the landlord.  Ownership, however is a different bird.  You are in control.  The decisions and esthetic possibilities are endless depending on available resources.

Well in church last Sunday, an analogy was made by TA, a former staffer at Austin Ridge who came back for a guest appearance at the podium.  And this very analogy was one that he used to describe various relationships with the Lord.  Have we allowed Christ to rent space within our hearts or have we given up our rights of ownership to what really belongs to him in the first place?  Simple question, but think about it for a minute.  Does Christ have full reigns to paint your walls of failures, regrets, guilt, shame etc with his colors of forgiveness, peace and joy?  Is he able to add on and remodel some of the rooms that are closed off and secured for our own personal entrance.  What about the landscape, does he have the authority to replant, and dig up weeds and change the an attitude that is the very backdrop of our existence? 

Seriously, I have thought about this so much since Sunday, because every one of my decisions, whether it is how I act or what I do or what I am thinking is based upon that very ownership. Am I willing to submit my own personal goals, attitudes, opinions, ideas, and creations unto God without hesitation? Or am I holding on to lifes’ pieces that I maybe don’t quite trust him to control, or really have no true desire to release.  What am I holding back on, and what is it that I am holding so tight to that I won’t let go? ?  

Is is a habit that is so entrenched in my way of life that I say I want to give it up but really am not willing to release the dependence that holds the true reigns. Have I found such comfort in the easy way that I don’t want to be challenged?  What about the feel good feeling of release that comes from spurts of anger and frustration; am I willing to let God control those? And my judgements of someone else’s actions or decisions or way of life, am I willing to let God control that too? To me, some of these things are not so easy to let go of. 

Yikes, all good and reasonable questions when assessing my relationship with God. And it made me question my true dependence on God.  A rental agreement is a contractual agreement between two parties where one owns, and one borrows. I do not own my life, for I was created, formed, and am watched over and guided each day by God himself.  The reality is I am God’s. He paid a great price for my very soul by allowing his only son to die for my sins, and that is the truth. 

I can either accept that truth and willfully make a choice to follow him and trust him and let him direct my ways or I can deny that truth and borrow or rent time from God when I get in a mess and need some help. He has given me and all of us the freedom to choose how we will respond to his invitation to be in a relationship with him.  We can either share in His overall ownership by allowing him to partner with our lives on a daily basis, or rent by the moment only calling on God when something in our world has gone askew. The renting thing seems to be using God for our own purposes rather than loving him and serving him for His purposes. 

If we rent, we benefit by using the goods at hand, oh but if we own a relationship with God, we not only receive the blessing of a infinite friendship that has no end but the rewards of trustworthy, full of grace victorious King that includes his power, his provision and his purpose. God is not a part time God who comes and goes as the wind blows, but I think sometimes we are part time followers. We have been given the choice to be renters or owners of a relationship that has benefits that far outweigh anything that this world can offer.   The choice is yours and the choice is mine...just think about it the next time you are calling on God for His help....is your desire to know him and seek him and build a relationship with him or to just rent some of his stately goods of honor that suit your purposes and your needs for the moment. Ouch!  I am surely one of those contenders. 

 

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,  set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his gloryin Christ Jesus.

Dear Lord, Help me to sustain a daily relationship with you through my prayers and a true desire to seek your will and know you better.  I don’t want to just rent time with you but want more than anything for you to own my time and use it for your glory. Help me to achieve that very goal.  Amen         

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!