Who Owns Your Life?

Money can solve a lot of problems. If it were not for money, I wouldn’t have clothes on my back, food in my stomach, or a house over my head. Money can solve a lot of problems and we are all keenly aware of that, are we not? Money can also make a lot of problems, sometimes problems bigger than we have in the absence of money. Take Genesis 13 as an example. Let me take five “ands” from Genesis 13:1-7 to give a brief encapsulation of the story.

Verse 1 says, “And Abram went up out of Egypt.” Verse 2 says, “And Abram was very rich.” Verse 5 says, “And Lot also…had flocks.” Verse 6 goes on, “And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.” Verse 7 says, “And there was a strife.” So, when Abram and his nephew Lot came out of Egypt, they had a lot of goods. There were some problems the goods could not solve.

Lot famously went on to a place called Sodom. Then, when there was war between Sodom and her king and a confederation of other kings, Lot, people from Sodom, and goods were taken captive. Genesis 14:11 says, “And they took all the goods of Sodom.” Verse 12 says, “And they took Lot…and his goods.” So, Lot’s goods were not able to defend him from the enemy.

Abram does something amazing. He took his servants, over three hundred battle-trained servants born in his house, which was to say this was only some of his servants, and he literally pursued and fought these warring kings. Abram was essentially his own nation state. He saved Lot and the others and their goods. Verse 16 says, “And he [Abram] brought back all the goods.” Then it says, “And also brought again his brother Lot.” It is almost as if the important thing was that he got back the stuff, and, oh yeah, he got Lot back too.

Money is a means, not just an end. In Genesis 13-14 over and again you find the theme of goods, possessions, and things. In verse 21 the king of Sodom basically says to Abram, “Thank you for rescuing our people and our goods. Take the goods to yourself and just give us the people back.” I love how Abram replies. He says to the king of Sodom, “I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.” They were obsessed with possession and Abram realized that God was the great possessor and the great giver.

He said, “I lift up my hands.” He wasn’t looking for a hand out; he had a hand up. He wasn’t asking anything of the king; he was asking it of God. Verse 23 says, “That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” He was not going to depend on the king; he was going to depend on God.

Abram saw the contrast between goods and God, and realized who was in control. Friend, don’t mistake the goods life for the good life. It does not necessarily follow. The Bible says that God has given us richly all things to enjoy. It also says we are not to put our trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. The point of all this is that how you live your life depends on who you think owns it. Abram realized God is the possessor of heaven and earth. He is the one to whom Abram looked. He didn’t have his hand out. He had his hand up.

Consider your place. Does God own that? Famously Genesis 13:10 says, “Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered,” and then it says, “like the land of Egypt.” In other words, Lot and to some extent Abram had tastes that were cultivated in Egypt. That characterized Lot’s thinking especially.

I have a friend who was in a discussion on Facebook when someone mentioned how bad it was that you can’t live on one income anymore. Back when he was a kid, people could have seven kids and one income and do fine, but you just can’t do that anymore. Someone replied, “Well, we weren’t buying five-dollar lattes in those days either.” I realize in many cases it is impossible to live on one income, but before we just jump to that conclusion, we need to think about what we actually need. We have better and more cars, bigger and better houses, and more luxuries than anyone in human history. Even the poorest among us generally have it better than most other people in the world right now and certainly throughout history.

So, do you own your possessions or do they own you? How you live depends on who you think owns your life. If God owns your life, it should help you with decisions like your place, where you live. Lot went to the wrong place because he was looking at the wrong thing.

What about your possessions? Lot was consumed with possessions. Abram was fixated on the possessor of heaven and earth. He trusted God. Is your faith today in goods or in God? Money can be a valid servant, but it is an awful master. It is not to be the main consideration in the major decisions you make. Should you be wise with money? Certainly, that is wise and of God. Should you make all your decisions primarily based on your pocketbook and not your convictions? No, there is the contrast between Abraham and Lot. How you live your life today depends on who you believe owns it.