We Have a TV, by Casey Ferguson
Just recently, while visiting her mom in the Texas panhandle, I proposed to Aimee, my girlfriend of seven months. Afterward her mom took us out to a celebratory engagement dinner and as an early wedding present bought us a brand new TV. Humbled by the gift, we were also excited that once we began our life together, at the very least, we had a TV.
Our first day of being engaged the word “fiance” still felt foreign to the two of us and probably the best way we knew to express our feelings about our new commitment was with the phrase “We have a TV!” It was the first sizable item we would own together, and we were thrilled at the idea of something belonging to both of us as husband and wife.
To imagine being married and living together one day but still maintaining separate ownership of all our possessions is disheartening. To do so we would be forfeiting the best thing we were gaining through our union, namely sharing our lives completely with one another, living together as a team.
This idea lead me to thinking about God. He’s supposed to be number one in my life, the key component holding everything together. But how often do I hold on to different areas of my life and use the word “mine” instead of “ours”? Whether it be my history or my talents, my relationships or my resources, if I’m being honest with myself it is all too often that I divide my life into two different categories, labeling half “God’s” and the other half “mine”.
In our culture we’re very accustomed to owning things. Paying for an item at the store makes it ours and the name we include in each of our assignments or bank accounts forever reiterates this concept of possession. The question that keeps coming to my mind in all of this, though, is wondering how my life would change if I were to begin writing God’s name alongside my own on each of my belongings. What if God had access to everything I owned anytime he wanted to use it? What if my life was truly a joint-ownership account? What would happen then?
2 Responses to “We Have a TV, by Casey Ferguson”
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Great journal! Really got me thinkin’…
I wonder if adding “and God” to my name on homework assignments would boost my grade a little..?
Agreed. We tend to compartmentalize like crazy. I think if we did view everything as God’s, we’d be so much more productive for Him because we’d realize just how much we have to work with when it comes to blessing others.