April 25, 2023

Scripture: Psalm 24:1-2 – “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”

What it means

What a great reminder from King David (the beginning of Psalm 24 says “Of David. A Psalm”, so pretty sure he wrote this one). As much as we like to think all of our stuff is ours…at the end of the day, not really. We work hard to accumulate possessions of all kinds, and take great pride in them, but it all really belongs to The Lord. He created it all…“the earth and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” This is a little bit like the book of Job, where Job had everything stripped away from him in one fell swoop – family, possessions, his home, his health…all gone. Job is famous for being patient (i.e. – “The patience of Job”), but if you read enough of that book of the bible, Job’s patience eventually wears out and he “gets in the face” of God. God responds a little more harshly than what we read in Psalms 24 – something along the lines of “Where were you when I created the earth? How about the birds of the air – how many feathers do each of them have?”…and so forth. Job realizes the error of his ways, and apologizes to God…God forgives Job, and restores him with more than he had to begin with…but it all began with realizing that it really wasn’t his to start with, and allowing God to rule the universe, even when it may not make sense to us.

What it means to me

Jan and I are beginning the process of going through her mom and dad’s house – cleaning up and figuring out what we want to keep, what needs to go to someone else, and what ultimately just needs to be thrown out. It’s a weird feeling – we inherited all of this, and as such, we didn’t lift a finger to earn any of it. It doesn’t feel like it’s ours, so there’s a level of guilt there as we sift through all of Jan’s parents’ worldly possessions that now belong to us. I guess that’s how we should look at everything that we have, in fact, “earned” in some form or fashion…while we may be entrusted to its care, it all still belongs to The Lord. I guess David was right – hopefully that will help Jan and I as we continue cleaning house 😊

Love you guys, talk to you on Thursday!

In Christ,

Brian