March 29, 2017 – Luke 20
Jesus said to them,
"Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is
God's." Luke 20:25
Life is a loan from
God that we pay back thru service and worship.
Home ownership is a common dream for most Americans. Having something that you can modify &
enjoy without having to gain permission gives us the appearance of freedom and
control. But do you really own it?
·
The bulk of homes in America are not (yet) owned
by those who live in them. Generally,
they are owned by financial institutions who have fronted the money, until we
pay off the debt.
·
Even with paying off a home loan, we seldom own the house. Taxes and fees are paid annually to our
government for the ‘right’ to use the land we live on.
·
Although we own
the house, we don’t always get to do whatever we want with it. Property and association requirements often
restrict that freedom for the sake of our neighbors. (So really, the neighbors have control of
what we can do!)
Ownership may be misleading.
Loanership may be more
accurate.
Our life works the same way.
We often think we own our
lives, but the truth is that they are on loan to us. We don’t have a say in when our life begins,
and have only minimal say in how long it lasts.
What happens in our life is not completely controlled by us, and depends
most on all of the circumstances and events that happen around us. We don’t really control our income, and only
have a little more control on our expenses (especially if you’re married or
have kids)! We don’t own our lives, they
are on loan. That’s not how we think,
but it’s our reality.
So when Jesus was approached and
challenged about paying taxes, His perspective was much different than most
humans. Instead of thinking ownership,
Jesus operated from a mentality of loanership.
When we realize our life is on loan, then we handle it as stewards instead of
as owners. So when money is paid for
taxes, we see that as giving back to the government what they gave us – money. And when we serve God’s Kingdom, we see that
as giving back to God what He gave us – life.
Trying to be owners, we’ll fight
to keep control of every asset we can.
But by seeing life as a loan, we’ll manage every moment the best we
can. Which are you spending your energy on? Are you expending time to keep hold of money,
or spending money to leverage your time?
God is the ultimate owner of all
of it. He owns our time and our
money. He decides what we should receive
and when it’s time to collect. If God is
the owner, then we must manage the loan.
Live a life of loanership. Use your time
and your resources to pay back your loan through service & worship. Honor the one who gave you the short time you
have, and don’t try to hold on to what you can never keep. Discover the true freedom and happiness that
comes with living a life on loan. You might just enjoy the resources & the
time a whole lot more!
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