Job
41:11 - Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven
belongs to me.
My first regular paying job was for an older man taking care of his 10acre lot doing yard work, landscaping, etc. it seemed fun at the beginning, and getting paid was great!!! But taking leaves all the time in the fall was difficult, and winter was even harder.. I learned some things from that first job (other than not wanting that much property to take care of)... I learned to respect the wishes of my boss, to do it the way I was instructed, and to appreciate the rewards of labor. But even more important than all those was something I figured out later...I was not the owner of all the tools and equipment---I was only managing and using them for the owners benefit.
If everything is God's, than we are not owners, but managers of what we receive in life. It's our job to use those tools and items for His benefit, and we will be "paid" for our work because He is faithful.
Unfortunately, most of the time we think we are the owners. And for many people in our culture, we treat God like He works for us. When it is inconvenient or requires sacrifice, we hold back the tithe He instituted for us to share. When our schedules conflict with serving or worshipping Him, we put God on the shelf and skip the "job". Yet we still expect a full paycheck from Him and complain when we don't get what we want.
Job's struggle is the same as all men. We were not created to be owners, but managers. God is the owner and he puts all that we have in our hands to manage for Him. Using it selfishly and cutting God out of our life won't end well. He deserves our best effort an is worthy of our sacrifice...and we know He will make sure we are blessed for it in the end.
Challenge: Stop thinking that we are owners of what we have. Stop acting like our lives take precedence over God's work. Live for Him first and manage His resources well, and then use the blessings appropriately.
My first regular paying job was for an older man taking care of his 10acre lot doing yard work, landscaping, etc. it seemed fun at the beginning, and getting paid was great!!! But taking leaves all the time in the fall was difficult, and winter was even harder.. I learned some things from that first job (other than not wanting that much property to take care of)... I learned to respect the wishes of my boss, to do it the way I was instructed, and to appreciate the rewards of labor. But even more important than all those was something I figured out later...I was not the owner of all the tools and equipment---I was only managing and using them for the owners benefit.
If everything is God's, than we are not owners, but managers of what we receive in life. It's our job to use those tools and items for His benefit, and we will be "paid" for our work because He is faithful.
Unfortunately, most of the time we think we are the owners. And for many people in our culture, we treat God like He works for us. When it is inconvenient or requires sacrifice, we hold back the tithe He instituted for us to share. When our schedules conflict with serving or worshipping Him, we put God on the shelf and skip the "job". Yet we still expect a full paycheck from Him and complain when we don't get what we want.
Job's struggle is the same as all men. We were not created to be owners, but managers. God is the owner and he puts all that we have in our hands to manage for Him. Using it selfishly and cutting God out of our life won't end well. He deserves our best effort an is worthy of our sacrifice...and we know He will make sure we are blessed for it in the end.
Challenge: Stop thinking that we are owners of what we have. Stop acting like our lives take precedence over God's work. Live for Him first and manage His resources well, and then use the blessings appropriately.
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