Possessions

by Joey Davis

Sawyer has a wonderful way of making me think about things I have never considered.

Yesterday, Sawyer and I discussed possessions.

Every night, Sawyer fights sleeping in his own bed as if there were live alligators with hand grenades under the sheets. These are kicking, screaming, crying, tearful fits! He would rather sleep with his sister or sleep in "Mommy's bed."

I know that I shouldn't argue with a four year old, but on this particular morning I felt it necessary to inform him that the bed he enjoyed so much was not "Mommy's bed," but "Mommy and Daddy's bed." He would have none of this explanation, which started a "is not. . . is too" match.

After a few rounds of "is not. . . is too," I explained that Melissa and I share everything. In other words, everything that we have belongs to both of us. With persistence inherited from "Mommy's side of the family," he sat and thought about what I had just shared with him. After a little slice of silence, he then looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said, "what about Mommy's shoes?"

Okay, so he had me!

He had figured out that although everything in the house belonged to both Melissa and me, there were some things that I had absolutely no use for. . . therefore that made them totally Melissa's sole possession. It didn't matter if I bought them, built them, or created them, because they were of no use to me, I'm obliged to relinquish control. . .

. . . Through God's inspired word, we are told that God created this world along with the heavens above. He constructed a place with the perfect atmosphere for those who would be created in His image. In this world, He created good things for His children. Yet, He then warns us not to love the world He created. (1 Jn 2: 15)

In John 12:31; John 14:13; and John 16:11, God even inspires the writer to capture moments when Jesus claimed that Satan was the "ruler of this world." As I'm sure you know, this begs the question. . . "who's world is it?"

Some say Satan, some claim God, and thus begins the "is not. . . is too" conversation of Christianity. In a way, this reminds me of "mommy's shoes."

God created the world. Yet it was intended as a means to an end; not the end. Yes, as the song says, "this is my Father's world!" But He knows that there are some things in it that Satan rules. Why? Because God's main interest is the souls that this world contains, not the world itself. He has given Satan control over things of which He has no use.

To God, we are His only prized possession ( 1 Peter 2:9).