Borrowed

I was musing about the principles in Monday's post. Basically, as Creator of everything (John 1:1-3), God claims that everything is His (Deut 10:14; Psa 24:1; Psa 50:12; Job 41:11; Col 1:16; etc.). If everything belongs to God, then anything we possess is ... borrowed.

Think about that. We use the phrase "living on borrowed time" in a figurative sense, but it is actually true. All of it. All of us are living on time that is not our own. We have incomes that are borrowed. We have talents, skills, and gifts that God owns and loans to us. Rush Limbaugh used to say he had "talent on loan from God." He was more right than he realized. We have family and friends that don't belong to us; they're just borrowed. We have jobs and churches and homes and everyday necessities all on loan from God. If you're feeling a bit tired, you can use some of your borrowed time to lay down on a borrowed bed to take a borrowed nap. Because everything is His. He's just generous enough to loan it out to us.

Paul warned the Philippians to "work out your salvation" (Php 2:12), and he explained how that was even possible. "It is God who is at work in you to will and to do His good pleasure" (Php 2:13). Even the work we do is accomplished by God giving us the will and the ability to carry it out. We have borrowed will and ability. If you were to evaluate your life in terms of a stewardship of what God has put you in charge of and examine how well you're taking care of what He has given you (everything), how well would you say you're doing? How well are you using your borrowed time and talent and resources for His good purposes? It's a sobering thought.