Day 208: John 5:16–23

“My Father is still working, and I am working also.”. . . Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father (vv. 17–18).

One of the first passionate words out of a toddler’s mouth is, “Mine!” I’m not even sure this word has to be taught. No one will argue where two-year-olds get “No!” but where in the world do they get “Mine”? I’d like to suggest that possessiveness is one of the most intrinsic elements embedded in the human psyche. No one has to learn a “my” orientation. It’s intertwined in every stitch of our DNA.

God created us with a need to know that something belongs to us. From the time we are toddlers, we begin testing what is ours by process of elimination. Everything is “mine” until we learn from our parents what doesn’t belong to us and what can be taken from us. “No, child, that’s not yours, but here’s this blanket. It is yours.” In fact, perhaps we could say that maturity is not so much disregarding our “my” orientation as learning how to appropriately recognize and handle what is and isn’t ours.

I don’t know about you, but I need to know that a few things really do belong to me. I am convinced that a certain need to possess is so innate in all of us that if we could truly not call anything our own, our souls would deflate with hopelessness and meaninglessness. Please hear this: ours is not a God who refuses us the right to possess anything. He’s simply protective enough of our hearts not to encourage a death grip on things we cannot keep. He’s not holding out on us. He’s not dangling carrots in front of our noses, then popping us in the mouth when we lunge to bite the bait. Contrary to much public opinion, God is not playing some kind of sick “I-created-you-to-want-but-will-not-let-you-have” game with us. Quite the contrary, the Author of Life will only encourage us to call “mine” what is most excellent. Most exquisite. So to those who receive, God gives Himself.

Part of the human condition means that to live in any semblance of order, we must confront a never-ending influx of “no’s.” In the midst of so much we cannot have, God says to His children, “Forsake lesser things and have as much as you want of . . . Me.” While God is the owner and possessor of all things, He freely invites us to be as possessive over Him as we desire. He is my God. And your God. He’s the only thing we can share lavishly without ever decreasing our own supply.