All That We Have

All that we have is a gift from God. There isn't anything that we have that did not come from Him.

We must not trust in the gifts themselves or in the riches that God allows us to earn. God says they are uncertain. They do not last.

We are to set our love on God and not on the things God has given us in this world.

I Timothy 6:17; Ecclesiastes 5:19;1 Chronicles 29:12;Deuteronomy 8:18; Psalm 62:10; Matthew 6:19.

I recently lost my favorite jacket. "Where did you lose it?" you are probably wanting to ask!!!!!!!

We searched and searched for my little black North Face jacket.  We went back to the restaurant where we remember I wore it last. We called the hotel several times and housekeeping never turned it in to the Lost-and-Found. "Well of course they didn't," I said, "they probably tried it on and decided God has given them a new coat."

As I thought about it, that's exactly what happened. God took it from me and gave it to somebody else. Romans 11:36 says He did! "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever."

Wouldn't you think that knowing the truth of Romans 11:36 would be enough to quiet my grief? Well it did, in the long run, but not in the days and weeks that surrounded my loss. The point I am making it that it is not easy to turn lose of things we love. 

 



 
We come into this world with nothing and it is certain that we will leave with nothing. Oh we all know that, but the reality of it is jolting! It is a truth that puts things in perspective.

Whatever we think of what we have, we must acknowledge the fact that everything comes from God, and that He is entitled to take it away from us whenever it pleases Him.

God took away Job's children, all his children, in one day! In fact, God took away everything Job had. Look at Job's response

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away:
Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

What a mockery it is when God gives us things, friends, children, grandchildren etc., and we act as if we are master of it all. What a mockery it is, knowing all things come from God, that we are never willing that God should take anything away from us. It is like saying to God:

"Thank you for giving me this house, but you are never welcome here. I am lord over my possessions, not You."

In summary: No matter what God gives us or what God takes away from us, it is our duty to live out the truth that everything comes from God, and it is His to do with it as He pleases.