God owns everything

The beginning of worship for the rich Christian is the acknowledgment that God owns everything.

We as humans are naturally selfish beings. We may give lip service to God's ownership, but our behavior and actions tell otherwise.

Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we are (or should be) asking Him to be Lord of our lives. As I see it, the Lordship component of salvation is an element that many believers don't comprehend at first. It seems to me that this concept takes time to develop in people as they mature in Christ. The apostle Paul writes about the Lordship of Christ in this way:

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ... (Titus 1:1a, NASB).

... You are not your own; you were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a).

Paul considered himself as Christ's bond-slave. Webster's Dictionary defines a bond-slave as:

A person in a state of slavery; one whose person and liberty are subjected to the authority of a master.

A bond-slave is the rebellious type. The kind that wants to run away. So, the master has to chain them up and lead them around where he wants them to go. This is the picture that Paul paints of himself as a believer. He's so rebellious that God has Paul in chains and leads him around where He wants Paul to go. The strange thing, though, is that there is freedom in being a slave of Christ. Our only option is to do exactly what He instructs us to do and to go exactly where He wants us to go.

When we really understand God's ownership of us as believers, then we get that He is God and we're not. We become joyfully obedient to giving back to Him and to others of our time, abilities, and money, because they're really His to begin with. We invest our lives into others because He first loved us. We follow God's leading in His mission for our lives. We desire to be focused on productive, meaningful work. Finally, we want to win for eternal awards that wait for us in heaven.

So, where are you at today in your worship of Almighty God? Do you acknowledge His Lordship of your life? Are you being obedient to where He wants you to go and what He wants to do? Enjoy the freedom that is experienced in being a bond-slave of Christ.