Stewardship 101 - Asking the Right Question

Final installment in Stewardship 101. Most of us spend a lot of effort asking and answering the question "Who am I?" We are defined by our family, our school, our social group, our occupation, our position in our adult family (mommy, daddy), our sports team, our political party. We run around through life collecting bumper stickers to define ourselves, chasing a phantom that constantly morphs into different aspects, disappearing through our fingers like a wisp of smoke. We attempt the perfect Facebook profile, or design an avatar expressing who we would be if we were who we really wanted to be. Life is lived like my son's group of middle school Dungeons and Dragons players in the 1970s who spent all night rolling the dice to define their characters and rarely got around to really playing the game.

Who am I is about limits. If I am a Democrat, I can't be a Republican. If I'm a Longhorn, I can't be an Aggie. If....

But whose am I? The Bible has an opinion about that one. (Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it). And for our modern days of space explorations, (Deuteronomy 10:14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.)

Being my own person was one of the major goals of my life. Psychology says it's one of the necessary rites of passage. Driven by fear of not belonging, I  donned myriad costumes and masks. Meanwhile, God patiently waited for me to open my eyes and see. My fear and blindness hadn't changed the truth. When in despair every roll I played had proven false, and I finally make the grand gesture to give myself to God I finally head the gentle reply, "You are and always have been mine."

Who am I? Wrong question. The answer gives no relief. Whose am I? That answer changes everything.