Mine?

What makes something yours?

When you go shopping, you are surrounded by all sorts of things, none of which belongs to you. So, what exactly is it that happens in order to cause one of those things in the store to become yours? Obviously, you can't just take the item off the shelf and decide it's yours and walk out with it. At what point does it truly belong to you. At what point do other people look at a particular item and recognize it as being yours?

In order to have something truly belong to you, it must be given to you or you must pay for it. Sometimes it requires both. Also, the item must be available for attaining. I recently had a yard sale at my dad's house and he had a child's rocking/bouncing horse on the porch that he loves. He told me about how special it was to him and how much the grandkids enjoyed it. Then, he told me that if someone tried to buy it, to tell them it's not for sale. Interestingly enough, 2 different people asked about buying the horse. I told them it wasn't for sale and they were very disappointed. If money had been exchanged for that horse, it would no longer belong to my dad. Just like that!

So what exactly is money? What's it for? I believe that money is proof of an agreement. It entitles one person to have ownership of something that once belonged to someone else. It is like little paper documents saying that you own something and are now in charge of the care and well-being of the item purchased.

Now, a person could come and steal this item from you in order to have it for themselves, but stealing it doesn't make it theirs. Only the exchange of money or the giving of a gift will make it theirs. When something is stolen from you, you want it back and you want justice to be enforced. It's one thing if someone steals something materialistic from you and it's a different thing all together if someone steals a person from you. If someone steals your car, you try your best to get it back, but it someone steals your child, you will give your very life to have your child back. Nothing will stop you from searching for them and trying to get them back in your arms where they belong.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Can you see where I'm going with this?

We are God's children because He created us with His own hands and breathed His own breath into our lungs in order to give us life.

Satan caused us to sin by telling us lies and tempting us to do the very thing that God told us not to do. We are now separated from God and we are all headed to a place created for Satan and his angels called Hell. We are going there because we chose to go along with what Satan said instead of what God said. We are in big trouble and we have no idea what to do in order to get out. As a matter of fact, there is nothing we can do in order to make things right between God and us. We have no power to do this ourselves. We need someone to save us! HELP!!

God saw our terrible and desparate situation and decided to do something tremendous. He wanted us back so badly that He did something that no one else could do. He gave up His own life by dying on a cross in order to kill the rule of sin over the world. Then He came back to life, as only God can do, in order to reign over everyone and everything once again. He totally defeated Satan and his wicked, evil plan to destroy us.

You see, Satan "kidnapped" us all from God and tried to keep us for himself so he could torment us for eternity. God stepped up, as He always has and always will, and pulled us up out of the mess we were caught in so He could free us and bless us with all the riches and goodness He has stored up for His children. Hallelujah!! We are free at last!!!

Some of you are still caught in the mess. You're caught because you are still trying to get out by your own strength. All the while, God's hand is reaching down to help you out, but you just won't grab on to Him.

Why?