Rev. Don Campbell
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, JULY 16, 2017: WE ARE ALL TENANTS
When God created Adam and Eve, he said, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen 1:28).
Some take this as a license for them to use the world and its resources as they please, defacing the earth, polluting the waters, exploiting resources without regard for future generations, slaughtering animals for fun or body parts, and on the list goes.
Psalm 104 is a song of God’s mighty creation and his care for every part of it from the birds in the branches to the badgers in the cliffs (vv. 1-23). Verse 24 reminds us that all of these things belong to God: “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions” (v. 24, NKJV). We are but tenants and the Landowner expects us to be good stewards over that which belongs to him. But there is another obligation of our tenancy.
Jesus warns: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Lk 12:15-21). In these 144 words, the fool used the word “I” six times and the word “my” five times—that is once every 13 words.
God allows us to possess and use, for a brief period, his possessions. The most valuable possession we have is our soul and that—as the parable shows—also belongs to him and he can call in the loan at any time day or night.
