Several years ago I loaned my heavy duty top-of- the-line foosball table to a friend. I had tired of the game and my friend wanted the table, so I let him keep it with the assurance he’d return it when asked.

A few years later I felt the urge to play so I called my friend and asked about the table. “I loaned it to a buddy,” he said.

“No problem,” I said. “Would you get it back?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“He sold it.”

“Did you tell him it wasn’t his to sell?”

“Yeah, I told him. He said he was sorry but he needed the money.”

In that moment a thought occurred that flushed my anger and troubled me more than my friend. I realized what he had done to me, I do all the time. I treat what belongs to God as if it were mine.

But it’s not. The Bible declares God owns it all. David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). In Haggai 2:8 we read, “‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

From childhood until death we grab trinkets and toys and say, “Mine.”

Such a truth flies in the face of observation and logic. After all, your name appears on the deed to your home and title to your car. You vividly remember paying for your shirt, slacks and shoes. You might even be able to dig up the receipt to prove the purchase. It could be you have a video recording of your possessions in case of fire or theft. If you’ve got a business, it carries your name. It all seems to be yours, doesn’t it?

But in God’s eyes you don’t own a dash, dot, drab, or drop of it. Since that’s the case, you may be wondering why you’ve got so much stuff that, from every outward appearance, seems to be yours. It’s because God entrusted it to you. And he wants you to honor him with its use. So take a few moments and thank God for all he’s entrusted to you. And pray for the wisdom to please him in its use.