Leviticus 25:23 – “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
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One of the most beautiful provisions in the Levitical law was God’s commanding the year of Jubilee. The Israelites could buy and sell properties as they needed for a period of 49 years. In the fiftieth year, the land would revert back to its original owner. This kept people from ever becoming too rich or too poor. But more than being a plan for social order, this command reminded the people of Israel that they owned nothing. They were renting the land. Everything, all land, property, and people, belonged to God.
As you may well know, we have no record (at least of which I am aware) of the Israelites ever obeying this command of God. We know nothing of the Israelites returning lands to their original possessors. For some reason, the allure of thinking that they owned something that was totally theirs outweighed their desire to obey the clear instruction of the Lord.
But, you know, we are in the same boat. Though we have no standing commands for a year of Jubilee, we do have a true understanding that we own nothing too. The earth is the Lords and all that is on, under, or above it. God owns everything. Anything you or I possess is simply on loan to us from the Lord who created it. We dare not allow ourselves to think that we are the masters of anything. To do so is to risk idolizing our possessions, giving into greed, and failing to be truly thankful to God for the things over which he has given us stewardship.
Today, take a look around you. What do you have? Whom do you love? Take time to remember that all of it belongs to God. Take time to remember that you are a short-term steward of the King’s property. Take time to give God thanks for what he has given to you. Take time to confess to God that you know that he has the right to give or take things from you as he sees fit for his glory. Learn to live as one who truly owns nothing.
Pastor Travis Peterson 