More on Possessions

by: Jessica Heikoop

There is a striking contrast between the man we read about yesterday and the man whose story we consider today. The rich young ruler loved his possessions so much he couldn’t part with them. Job, who is described as “the greatest [i.e., richest] of all the people of the east” (v. 3), was able to lose all he had and still worship God. Job’s wealth was not his master. God was. “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (v. 21b). Job understood that possessions aren’t something to hold onto too tightly.

Surrendering our possessions to God doesn’t mean that we have to get rid of everything we own. It also doesn’t mean that if you have wealth you cannot be his disciple. After all, at the end of Job’s story God blesses him with more wealth than he had before.

The issue isn’t money itself. The issue is the place money has in our hearts. To surrender our possessions to Christ means that we hold them loosely. We recognize that everything we have comes from Christ in the first place.

Jesus stated that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). When our hearts are focused on our possessions, we are not able to fully serve God. Therefore, may we “lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20) as we surrender our treasures here.