Sonship and ownership
This week is on Ezekiel 46:16-18:
Continuing the theme of sonship and its incredible coolness, I noticed these verses in the old testament. They line up pretty well with the verses in the new testament about the father giving good gifts to his sons. God gives good gifts, and they're ours to keep. He gives us gifts because we're his sons and daughters, and because he's entrusted us with them.
I've heard people say things like "We don't own anything. It's all God's/Mother Earth's/part of the universe." I don't really believe that. You could use the same argument to say that you don't own your house because you pay a mortgage on it, or because you pay taxes for it, or because the government can use eminent domain to force you to sell it to them, but it's wordplay at best, and deceptive at worst. You own your home because you get to determine what happens to it, and nobody can override your decision. You can make it ugly or beautiful. You can add and remove rooms in it. And if it falls in on your head, it's your right as much as it is your fault. If you were just a steward of the government's house, it wouldn't be yours to enjoy and change and improve as you saw fit.
God gives us gifts we can keep. Our life is his gift. We can do anything we want with it, and nobody can overrule us. We can choose heaven or hell, right or wrong, and make any plans we want. God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and spend eternity with him, but he will not force us to, because our lives are his gift to us. By refusing to take ownership of our lives, we're disrespecting the God that gave them to us. If you gave someone a car, and they refused to accept the title, and refused to admit that they owned the car, and kept asking you permission to take it out and drive it around, how would you feel? You gave them the gift because you wanted them to have it. You knew they needed it, knew they would enjoy it, and made the sacrifice to make sure they could have it, only to have your generosity questioned, and an extra responsibility given back to you. That's insulting.
By not taking ownership of our lives, we're being derelicts. We've refused the responsibility of sons entrusted with their inheritance. "No, Dad, this is *your* car. If I accept it, it means I'll have to drive myself around, and I'd prefer to be chauffeured. So I'd prefer you keep it as *your* car, and not mine." By refusing to take ownership, we're displaying the cowardice of the guy who buried his talent. If we refuse to take ownership of God's gifts, we can sound all spiritual, while at the same time shirking responsibility for their maintenance and use. That's the wrong way of looking at our place in the world. We're princes trusted with the king's coolest stuff. If you're afraid of messing it up, don't pretend it's not yours, but use it as yet another good reason to get close to the king and find out how not to be stupid with it. "God, help me to live my life the best way I can, the way you intended it for me." "God help me to heal the people who you want to reach." "God, help me to use my charisma for eternal benefit, not just to play games with the future dead." You get the picture?
Sons inherit, but servants just borrow. If your father gives you a car, it's yours. If you turn your back on him and move to another state, he doesn't get it back. You get to keep it. If your employee does the same thing with a company car, however, the situation turns out very differently. Sons and servants are different positions, and come with different attitudes.
A servant is just there to serve. He doesn't carry the name of his master, and he doesn't have any incentive to learn his master's way of life, or imitate his master. He'll always be a servant, and so he's just passing his time, hearing what the master says, and blindly doing it. He's a minimum wage employee who isn't paid to think, and when times get tough, he's the first to be sent away. (That never happens with sons.)
A son is there to follow in his father's footsteps. He's formed from his father, bears his father's name, lives in his father's house, and is allowed access to the father at any time. He doesn't collect a wage because he has an inheritance. His job isn't just to listen to the father and blindly do what he's told, but also to learn the father's values, to catch hold of the father's vision for his life, and to become what the father has planned for him to be. Unlike the servant, he's connected to the father by blood, and represents the father's family name outside of the household. All of that comes with the understanding that the son will do what the father wants, and respect him.
Lets say your father gives you and your brother each three cookies. A dog comes and eats two of your brother's cookies when he isn't looking, so your father asks you to give one of your cookies to your brother. They're your cookies, but are you really going to say "Screw you dad, they're my cookies!" Of course not. That would be disrespectful. Tell your employee to give part of his wages to one of his coworkers, however, and you'll get a very different response.
So, while we get things for keeps, because we're God's sons, we also have to answer to him, because we're God's sons. If we refuse to do as God likes, we're being disrespectful and are subject to discipline, the same as any unruly children. If we refuse to take ownership of what we've got, to maintain it, and protect it, and use it as designed, do you think he's going to trust us with more? If you gave someone a coat, and two weeks later it was laying on the floor in tatters, with stains all over it, because the person didn't respect you by respecting your gift to them, would you give your next free coat to them, or to someone who would care for it? Trust comes with responsibility.
Be thankful for what God has given you, and ask him how best to use it. Be a good steward of what you've been entrusted with, because that respects the father and reflects well on his family. Learn God's values and his hopes and plans for your life. It's time to take ownership and step into your role in God's awesome family.
" 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance. If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people will be separated from his property.' "
Continuing the theme of sonship and its incredible coolness, I noticed these verses in the old testament. They line up pretty well with the verses in the new testament about the father giving good gifts to his sons. God gives good gifts, and they're ours to keep. He gives us gifts because we're his sons and daughters, and because he's entrusted us with them.
I've heard people say things like "We don't own anything. It's all God's/Mother Earth's/part of the universe." I don't really believe that. You could use the same argument to say that you don't own your house because you pay a mortgage on it, or because you pay taxes for it, or because the government can use eminent domain to force you to sell it to them, but it's wordplay at best, and deceptive at worst. You own your home because you get to determine what happens to it, and nobody can override your decision. You can make it ugly or beautiful. You can add and remove rooms in it. And if it falls in on your head, it's your right as much as it is your fault. If you were just a steward of the government's house, it wouldn't be yours to enjoy and change and improve as you saw fit.
God gives us gifts we can keep. Our life is his gift. We can do anything we want with it, and nobody can overrule us. We can choose heaven or hell, right or wrong, and make any plans we want. God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and spend eternity with him, but he will not force us to, because our lives are his gift to us. By refusing to take ownership of our lives, we're disrespecting the God that gave them to us. If you gave someone a car, and they refused to accept the title, and refused to admit that they owned the car, and kept asking you permission to take it out and drive it around, how would you feel? You gave them the gift because you wanted them to have it. You knew they needed it, knew they would enjoy it, and made the sacrifice to make sure they could have it, only to have your generosity questioned, and an extra responsibility given back to you. That's insulting.
By not taking ownership of our lives, we're being derelicts. We've refused the responsibility of sons entrusted with their inheritance. "No, Dad, this is *your* car. If I accept it, it means I'll have to drive myself around, and I'd prefer to be chauffeured. So I'd prefer you keep it as *your* car, and not mine." By refusing to take ownership, we're displaying the cowardice of the guy who buried his talent. If we refuse to take ownership of God's gifts, we can sound all spiritual, while at the same time shirking responsibility for their maintenance and use. That's the wrong way of looking at our place in the world. We're princes trusted with the king's coolest stuff. If you're afraid of messing it up, don't pretend it's not yours, but use it as yet another good reason to get close to the king and find out how not to be stupid with it. "God, help me to live my life the best way I can, the way you intended it for me." "God help me to heal the people who you want to reach." "God, help me to use my charisma for eternal benefit, not just to play games with the future dead." You get the picture?
Sons inherit, but servants just borrow. If your father gives you a car, it's yours. If you turn your back on him and move to another state, he doesn't get it back. You get to keep it. If your employee does the same thing with a company car, however, the situation turns out very differently. Sons and servants are different positions, and come with different attitudes.
A servant is just there to serve. He doesn't carry the name of his master, and he doesn't have any incentive to learn his master's way of life, or imitate his master. He'll always be a servant, and so he's just passing his time, hearing what the master says, and blindly doing it. He's a minimum wage employee who isn't paid to think, and when times get tough, he's the first to be sent away. (That never happens with sons.)
A son is there to follow in his father's footsteps. He's formed from his father, bears his father's name, lives in his father's house, and is allowed access to the father at any time. He doesn't collect a wage because he has an inheritance. His job isn't just to listen to the father and blindly do what he's told, but also to learn the father's values, to catch hold of the father's vision for his life, and to become what the father has planned for him to be. Unlike the servant, he's connected to the father by blood, and represents the father's family name outside of the household. All of that comes with the understanding that the son will do what the father wants, and respect him.
Lets say your father gives you and your brother each three cookies. A dog comes and eats two of your brother's cookies when he isn't looking, so your father asks you to give one of your cookies to your brother. They're your cookies, but are you really going to say "Screw you dad, they're my cookies!" Of course not. That would be disrespectful. Tell your employee to give part of his wages to one of his coworkers, however, and you'll get a very different response.
So, while we get things for keeps, because we're God's sons, we also have to answer to him, because we're God's sons. If we refuse to do as God likes, we're being disrespectful and are subject to discipline, the same as any unruly children. If we refuse to take ownership of what we've got, to maintain it, and protect it, and use it as designed, do you think he's going to trust us with more? If you gave someone a coat, and two weeks later it was laying on the floor in tatters, with stains all over it, because the person didn't respect you by respecting your gift to them, would you give your next free coat to them, or to someone who would care for it? Trust comes with responsibility.
Be thankful for what God has given you, and ask him how best to use it. Be a good steward of what you've been entrusted with, because that respects the father and reflects well on his family. Learn God's values and his hopes and plans for your life. It's time to take ownership and step into your role in God's awesome family.
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