Everything and Everyone

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

Have you ever considered the comprehensive nature of God’s ownership? Every blade of grass and every leaf on every tree, every green thing on the earth is his. The clouds – whether they’re light and fluffy or gray and full of thunder – they all belong to him. The breath in your lungs, the ground under your feet, the light that carries these words to your eyes … God owns all of it.

And God owns us. Though we live divided by race, class, politics, geography and history, we all belong to God. You’ve never met a person who didn’t belong to God. That person you see in the mirror every day (whether you like that person or not), that person belongs to God.

This is the psalmist, David’s audacious claim.

And even at the time he wrote it people knew it was an audacious claim. The gods of the ancient world attached themselves to particular places: the gods of Egypt, the gods of Canaan, the gods of Babylon. Claiming that your God was a global, cosmic God took some faith. And claiming that your God owned all of the people on the earth? That could get you killed.

David’s claim of God’s universal sovereignty sounded controversial to ancient ears because they understood that if God owned everything and everyone then that would necessarily affect the way his people lived.

We are not the ultimate owners of our stuff. God is. And we will be held responsible for what we do with the patches of earth and sunsets and lung-filling-air that he entrusts to us. What a celebration we’ll have when we’re called to account and can display to the Lord all the generous good we’ve done with all he entrusted to us!

There are several other veins of reflection in this passage. Today, we left some meat on the bone for you. Try your hand at digging into this idea that God owns everything and everyone.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

  • How is this idea that God owns everything and everyone good news for the poor?
  • How does this idea affect the way you pray?
  • How does this idea affect the way you talk to people about becoming a follower of Jesus?
  • How does this idea affect the way you endure hardship?
  • How does this idea affect the way you forgive and seek reconciliation?

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