"Mine" Comes Right After "No"

The blog title is obviously not speaking of alphabetical order. Both words do seem to be something built into the genetic make-up of human beings, however. “Mine” denoting ownership or territory rears its head quickly as toddlers gain vocabulary and reasoning power. I remember our older son coming home from church one Sunday saying “me seffish (selfish).”  During his time in the church nursery he had apparently been unwilling to share time with a toy by insisting it was his. Despite the fact that he’d learned he was selfish (that “mine” was not necessarily a good thing), he seemed rather proud of learning that new word.

This past week I read about a different slant on the word “my” in Beth Moore’s book, THE BELOVED DISCIPLE. She brings out some interesting ideas on times when “my” is actually our rightful claim with no negative connotations. Look at the Psalms and you will find multiple mentions of this:  “my shield, my rock, my fortress, my salvation, my shepherd, my refuge”—and the list could go on and on.

Jesus gave up numerous rights when He left heaven to come to earth as a man—His glory, His honor, and ultimately, His life. Yet one claim He refused to give up was His Sonship to the Father. Despite the fact that His words got him into hot water with the religious powers of the day, He continued to call God His Father, and rightly so.

We know that what we call “mine” here on earth is really given to us on a stewardship basis. Since these earth suits we live in don’t last forever, neither do the concrete things we call “mine” and many relationships fall into that category too. But the one thing we can call “mine” on a permanent basis is our personal relationship with Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. That means we, like David, can say of God, “my shield, my rock, my fortress, my salvation, my shepherd, my refuge.” Yet there’s no law of diminishing supply with God. Because of that, no matter how much we share Him, our supply of Him will never decrease.