Day 1: God Owns It All

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Transcript
There’s a defining scene in The Lion King where the patriarch lion, Mufasa, is teaching his young son, Simba, a lesson. He takes him to the highest point in the area and tells him, “Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

Simba’s response is one word: “Wow.” He can’t believe that one day all of what he can see will be his. But Mufasa, the wise king, reminds him: “A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun.” His lesson is simple but profound: this may seem like yours, but it’s not. You don’t own this. You only have control of it until the next king looks after it. You are simply a temporary steward.

A few thousand years ago, an actual king declared who really owns everything. When King David ruled the nation of Israel, he acknowledged that even though he was king, God is the one who owns everything. In Psalm 24:1, David wrote:

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

Every created thing, every person, is ultimately under God’s ownership. We just have the privilege and responsibility of taking care of what God has entrusted to us while we’re here. We should view all of our resources as something we temporarily have the opportunity to take care of.

Which leads to the question, “Who do you believe really owns everything under your control?” Consider this: do you spend, budget, save, or give as if you or God is the real owner? As we’ll see throughout the Scriptures in the days ahead, the Bible has a lot to say about how we handle our money.

God doesn’t want our money or our stuff. He already owns it all. He wants something much more important than that: our hearts. Taking the time to pause and consider who we believe owns it all is one indicator of what or who has our heart.

“Heavenly Father,
You own everything. I don’t. Help me to steward what you’ve given me and hold everything I have with open hands. Amen.”