Owed or Owned
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened,” (Matthew 7:7-8 ESV).
This verse is comforting. It shows a lot about God that, should we seek Him, He will always provide and make a way. I think the part that we often forget, though, is “should we seek Him.”
God is not a magic-8 ball or a genie that just grants all of our wishes at our command.
Nothing is at our command. We are at His command. Our willingness to surrender to Him and bend to His will makes all the difference on how we view God and His promises. We are not entitled to anything, but because of His love for us and want of a relationship with us, we are promised an inheritance and a salvation from our sins.
Our perspective changes our view on everything He promises, though. Do you feel as if you are owed by God? Or as if you are owned by God?
God does not owe us any of what He promises. We are not deserving of anything He offers. What we are deserving of is far scarier and far more indicative of our nature. In reality, our sin means that we are owed damnation in hell and eternal separation from the one who made us, knows us, and loves us. This is because, as much as God is loving, He is also just.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,” (Romans 1:18).
What we are owed by His justice is nothing we should be willing to pay.
BUT (the most important BUT ever)
If we are owned, the story changes.
If we are owned by God, surrendered to Him, at His mercy, and fully committed to a relationship with Him, what we owe will have been paid off. By Him, for Him, so that He can be worshipped by the ones He loves the most.
God wants a relationship with YOU, as you are, so badly, that He made a way for the debt you owe to be paid. Here’s the BUT.
Jesus. Jesus Christ paid what we owe so that we can be owned.
God’s Son, whom He loved, who was human and innocent and did no wrong was slain. Horrifically, brutally, and horrendously killed. He was taunted, mocked, made fun of, and beaten. And the biggest kicker? It should have been us on that cross. And because we couldn’t pay it, because we couldn’t defeat all of our sins Jesus bore on that cross, because we couldn’t defeat that death and couldn’t handle God’s justice due to our injustice and sin, Jesus rose. He rose from the grave our sins put Him in to defeat the death we couldn’t.
Jesus DEFEATED death and sin because God didn’t want us to pay what we deserved to pay. He didn’t want that separation from us. He wanted all of you and all of me for all of eternity. Why? Simply because He loves us so much.
When we realize that God’s promises aren’t promised because HE owes us, but because He paid off our debt, we see the hugeness of His love for us. He doesn’t want a perfect son and daughter that already has it all together. He had Jesus. He wants you in all of your mess and sin and doubt. He wants to be with you, in a relationship, with you receiving all of the promises He’s made to His children.
He wants you to have the beauty of eternity with the one who has loved you more than anyone ever has, will, or can (and who proved it beyond measure). He offers it to every single person. All we have to do is accept.
Our owed vs. owned mentality can be summed up in this one verse:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 6:23 ESV).
What we owe is death BUT God gave us the free gift of not only heaven and eternity with Him, but a relationship on earth with Him, by sending Jesus to pay our debt. It’s a gift. It’s free and it’s offered. It’s yours for the taking.
This type of love and adoration from God is so much more than a magic-8-ball or some type of genie. It’s the true devotion from someone who deserves our worship, awe, and praise. More than on Easter, but on each and every day that we remember the weight is lifted, the tomb is forever empty, and Satan has been defeated.