God Is the Owner of Everything
Read Psalm 50:10–12; Psalm 24:1; 1 Chronicles 29:13, 14; and
Haggai 2:8. What’s the message here, and what should this truth
mean to us and how we relate to whatever we possess?
The book of 1 Chronicles, starting with chapter 17, records King
David’s desire to build a house for God. He shared this desire with the
prophet Nathan, who responded, “ ‘Do all that is in your heart, for God
is with you’ ” (1 Chron. 17:2, NKJV). But that night the word of God
came to Nathan and instructed him to tell the king that, because he was
a man of war, he couldn’t build God’s house. His son would do the work
instead. David asked if he could, at least, draw the plans and prepare
the building materials. When David was granted this request, he spent
the rest of his life amassing a tremendous amount of hewn stone, cedar,
iron, gold, silver, and brass “without measure.” When all of the building
materials had been prepared and assembled at the building site, David
called all the leaders of Israel together for a ceremony of praise and
thanksgiving.
In 1 Chronicles 29:13, 14, in King David’s public prayer, who did
he say was the real source of all the building materials that he and the
people had spent time and money preparing? Of course, in essence,
he said, “We really can’t take any credit for all these special materials
because we are just giving You back Your own stuff.”
The point is important for all of us, whether rich or poor (but
especially the rich). Because God made everything in the beginning
(see Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; Ps. 33:6, 9), He is truly the rightful Owner
of all that exists, including whatever we possess—no matter how
hard and diligently and honestly we have worked for it. If not for
God and His grace, we would have nothing, we would be nothing;
in fact, we wouldn’t even exist. Thus, we must always live with the
realization that, ultimately, God owns all that is, and by praising and
thanking Him for His goodness to us, we can keep this important
truth before us.
“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to
offer so willingly as this?” (1 Chron. 29:14, NKJV). What beautiful
principles are expressed in these words, and how do they reflect
what our attitude toward God should be and our attitude toward
what we possess?
