He Really Owns It All

Leviticus 25:17 “Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.”

Here in Leviticus 25, the Bible describes the Year of Jubilee. Every fifty years, the land lay dormant, servants were freed, and any land that was purchased was returned to the original owner. If a Jewish man came upon hard times, he could sell himself to you and sell you his land. But at the Year of Jubilee, he received back his land and his freedom.

We can learn from this chapter that when you claim God, He claims everything else. The ownership of God was based on two things: God owns the land, and He owns the people on the land. In dealing with servants and land, the Lord did not want them to take advantage of one another. He says in verse 23, “For the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.” Verses 38 and 42 say, “I am the LORD your God . . . they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt.” Everything you will encounter today should be based on the fact that you are a steward of God’s things.

Suppose I sat down and figured out how much money I could make by selling things here on the Ranch. The “stuff” here at the Ranch-houses, pickup trucks, equipment-might have some monetary value. But the truth is, none of it belongs to me-in a very real sense (Bill Rice Ranch, Inc. owns it) and in an ultimate sense (God owns it!). In dealing with the details of loaning money, buying land, and buying servants in light of the Year of Jubilee, God’s foremost concern was, “Ye shall not therefore oppress one another. . . .” The children of Israel were not to take advantage in loaning money (verse 37) because their attitude was to be based, not on what the debtor could do in return, but on what belonged to God.

That same attitude should make a difference in our lives today-God owns us, our car, our furniture, our kids, etc. Understand that God owns everything, and you simply have a stewardship. Although the Year of Jubilee was a distinctively Jewish event, no matter how little or how much you own, handle life today with the same realization that when you claim God, He owns everything else.