What really is ours?

My pastor gave a sermon this week which focused a lot on stewardship. Not the idea that we should be giving more money than we are but realizing that all that we have been given was given in a way that it might glorify God.

He told a story about a couple of guys Jim and George. George had a rake that one year he loaned to Jim so that he could rake his leaves. Jim raked his leaves but never remembered to give the rake back to George. Each year Jim would use the rake for his leaves in the fall, grass clippings in the summer, and various other times throughout the year. See since he used it every year he just kept forgetting it belonged to George. The problem was not that Jim ever broke the rake and was afraid to give it back. In fact he took very good care of it like it was his own rake. Over time he had completely forgotten George loaned it to him and he now thought it was his own. George did get the rake back though a few years later when Jim died. His family was going through the shed and came across a rake that had the name George on it. They then returned the rake to its rightful owner. See the fact that Jim used that rake for so long never meant that he owned it. Ownership is not transferred by use as my pastor stated.

Then where does this leave us. Well in the same way God loans us all the we have including the body that we inhabit on Earth. He gives us these things and expects us to take care of them, but no matter how long we use them they are never truly ours. They have always been God's. So do we really own anything? The answer would be no, we are only using our gifts from God for our purposes here on Earth. "Ownership is not transferred by use."