I call my dogs “My Two.” I know, it’s a little weird, but it came about because of how much they mean to me. They don’t feel like just dogs. Those of you who are lifetime dog owners know exactly what I am talking about. They are more like family members. So, instead of reminding my wife to “Feed our two four legged family members,” I say “Don’t forget to feed My Two.”
I love “My Two” and perhaps worry about them more than I should. But that is changing a little. I’ve realized they are not MY Two. They are God’s Two
Lately, I have a new sense of God’s ownership. I’ve long had a head knowledge that everything is His. Now it’s starting to make its way deeper in my heart. Part of the difference is a change in the concept of “everything.” I have mostly thought of that as things; my bank account, my car, my house. Recently, I’m gaining a new understanding of how much more it means. It’s not that God owns every THING. God owns ALL.
My two dogs, that I love dearly, are not mine. They are God’s two dogs. Tamera, who has all my love always, is not MY wife. She is God’s daughter, a child of the King, a princess, whom God has allowed to walk beside me for more than 42 years. Even “my” body is not really mine. It’s God’s creation, which He breathed His life into 65 years ago. God owns it all.
At first this heightened sense of His ownership could seem to leave me with a sense of loss; a sense of my own empty handed worthlessness. But for me, it’s done something else. I used to think God had given me many blessings. When I think that way, I worry about losing those blessings. I’m beginning to realize that maybe God has given me nothing. Instead, what He has done is shared with me an overflowing sample of His All. As a result, I now imagine two things.
One: All those that are most precious to me are even more so to God because they are quite literally HIS loved creations. Two: because they are His, He is the foundation of their well being. He loves “my” wife, “my” kids, “my” family and even “my two” infinitely more than I ever could and He, not me, is responsible for their well being. I, as HIS servant, may be a caretaker for some of His ALL. I may be a beneficiary as He shares some of His blessings for a while, but He owns all. The destiny and responsibility of all, is all, His.
These two key realizations have been freeing to me. I’m a little less worried these days. It’s not my stuff, it’s not my loved ones, it’s not even my body or my life. It’s God’s. And He is a more loving, caring, wise and righteous owner than I could ever be. If you have an issue with that, take it up with the Owner of it all. I’m just the steward of an overflowing bounty of HIS blessings, which for now at least, includes “His Two.”