Mine

Some friends had a number of children.  They got a new family pet, a bird.  So the discussion began about what they would name this new pet bird.  It was finally decided that their youngest son, who was four at the time, would name it and they would all go along with whatever he came up with.  The son thought about it and said, "It's Mine."

We are naturally possessive.  We want to own and control things.  Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and the ten commandments say, "Thou shall not covet...".  We need to hold onto the things in this world loosely.  1 Timothy reminds us that we come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing.  

However, there is another sense in which the word "mine" is a positive thing.  We sometimes use the word not to describe exclusivity but rather responsibility.  When we say, "My community, my school, my team, my event, my ministry, my project, my church" we are saying that we have a personal stake in the outcome.  We assign ourselves the responsibility it.  It has become personal to us.  

Sometimes we use mine to describe something that is very personal.  When we say, "My thoughts, my beliefs, my faith, my dreams..." we are discussing an area that gets close to who we are.  And in that sense they are truly ours.  Not so much exclusive as unique.  

In the 23rd Psalm when David says, "The Lord is my shepherd..." that is what he is getting at.  Our relationship with God is personal and it exists for each of us in a unique way.

Watch this clip from Pastor Lloyd.

At its very foundation Christianity is not about a building, or a set of rules, it is about a relationship with God.  Each of us has our own personal relationship that is all ours.