Possessions and Stewardship

     I remember as a young boy, my family moving to the country.  The doctors had told my Father and Mother that the country air would be better for my sister.  So, my parents bought a little house with an acre and a half of land on in the country in northern Indiana.  We had moved from a city of about 30,000 people to the country and the nearest town had a total of about 400 people in it at the time.  It was a big change.  Shortly after we moved there, my mother got up in the morning and looked out into the yard to see about 25 cows.  They had broken through the fence and all of them were eating the grass in our yard. It seems as if they were all right near our back door.  My Mom, at that point, was more of a city person and the sight of these large animals just about caused her to faint.  Soon, the owner of the cows arrived and was able to get them all back into their right field.  Twenty five cows in your back yard was quite a sight to see.  Psalm 50:10-12 says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.  I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof."   

        We often think that we own this or that.  Ranchers especially are proud of the number of cattle that they own, take care of, and ship to market every year.  But, as we have read in the above Scripture, we are not the owners of the cattle nor any other beast.  God owns them all.  He has created them and they are His.  We are but stewards of what God has given us.  Some of us, myself included, physically don't own a cow, nor a goat, nor a pig.  All we have is a cat.  But, God has said that He owns them all.  There are a couple of lessons for us here.  First, since God owns them all, He can shift some of them around now and then to help provide for the needs that you might have in your life.  Second, if God owns all of the cattle and is responsible for them, then surely He also is your owner.  He owns you.  He has made you and He has made you in His image.  Therefore, He will take care of you.  Sometimes, it is just great to look out at all of the things in this world and realize that they are all part of God's riches.  Praise God today for the supplying of all our needs.