There are two reason why someone may believe they “own” us;
because they can “compel” us to do what they want, or because we have “offered”
ourselves to them. In America’s early
history we traded in slaves. We
compelled slaves to do as told. It took
a war to end the practice. Today, a
hooker on the street corner conducts illegal commerce; a young girl traded
without her consent, is modern day slavery or a victim of human
trafficking. Yet since Adam & Eve,
when a husband pledges himself to his wife, to her only, to be faithful to her
alone … he gives himself to her. She
could say that she “owns” him, for it is true she owns the heart he has given,
and she owns the body he uses to try to make her happy. Under compulsion, this would be slavery, when
it is volunteered, this is love in action.
Since Adam & Eve, mankind ceded his dominion to the
enemy of souls. Satan became our master
as that original choice to sin allowed him to do so. But Satan has chosen a much more effective
way to manage the slaves within his domain; he instills compulsion through
addiction. He offers us the “pleasures”
of the love-of-self, and once we indulge, we become slaves to its
practices. The specific expression of
loving self hardly matters; whether it is sex, alcohol, drugs, indifference,
infidelity, greed, lust, gossip, or gluttony, all that matters is that we
indulge in some form of it. Once we
embark on a trail of self-love we become addicted to its practices, unable to
cease from it, or in effect … slaves to our sins. Our desires become warped, into desires that
would hurt us, and hurt others. We are
willing to find our “joy” at the expense of others, using a litany of slogans
developed by a mind more cunning than our own, things like: “You only live once”, “Whoever dies with the
most toys wins”, “God will understand”, “It’s a dog eat dog world out there”,
“If I don’t look out for number one, who will”.
Once our desires are warped, our actions will follow. But even though our original choice to sin has
led to this, even though you and I suffer from 6,000 years of genetic mutation
which engrains these tendencies in the very fabric of who we are, there remains
hope. Our God, who is also our original
owner and maker, knows how our brains are wired. He is able to clear through the fog of our
evil intentions, and evil natures, to bring us the clarity of mind, to
choose. For His kingdom is not based on
compulsion, but upon choice freely made.
He breaks through the maze of our self-love and shows us a glimpse of
what His love is all about. Our original
owner and maker does not compel us to choose Him, He frees us to choose Him
without the duress of Satan’s slavery.
If we do choose our God, then He begins in us, the process of freeing us
from our genetics, from our choices, and from the desires we have cultivated
until we met Him.
It would seem then, that you and I exist, in a state of
ownership, whether as slaves, or as free men giving ourselves away. We will not ever be free to govern
ourselves. We will either have our
desires corrupted until we see no value in anything other than ourselves. Or we will be made free from our selfishness,
and find joy in loving only others, and find contentment in making others
happy. There is no other middle
ground. There is only the war that
exists to influence us one way or the other.
Ownership of our souls, and of our characters here in this world is at
stake. What you choose, or rather “who”
you choose will decide the fate of this war for you, perhaps your fate for
eternity. At some point, your death will
occur, and ownership will be asserted.
Who or what you have given yourself to, will put a legitimate claim upon
you, and the sleep of death will also make you silent in the decisions and
actions that follow.
Our previous study the death of figs, was intended to
illustrate this. But our current study
about the ownership our God can assert is based upon our choice to give
ourselves to Him. Peter continues his
recollection to John Mark in chapter eleven of his gospel, picking up briefly
in verse 19 saying … “And when even was come, he went out of the city.” Jesus spent the day in the Temple at
Jerusalem, all of this after turning over the assets of the money changers and
those who would try to make profit from His name, or His worship. He spent all day teaching the people, about
the need for prayer. He told them how
constant prayer in His house, would change the reputation of His house
throughout the world. This was a lesson
we could learn from as well, if we are willing.
In the next day, before He and His disciples would return to
Jerusalem, there was more to be said, more to be taught. Peter continues talking to Mark in verse 24
again saying … “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” This is a promise from Christ Himself. It appears unqualified. But let us examine the premise just a bit
further. If our desires remain steeped
in selfishness, and our prayers reflect only that selfishness, do we really
think our God is supposed to give us that thing that we want? As an example, I pray to win the mega lottery
(and how many of us have); should I expect to win, because I plan to give tithe
and offerings. The lion’s share of the
winnings I will use on myself, corrupting my desires even further, making me
want God even less, but I quote this text back to Him, and tell Him He has no
choice but to give it to me. Wanting
selfish things, and demanding them, was not the intent of this promise. It would be far better for me, that God
consistently says no. Granting me even
one of them, could destroy me forever.
However, unselfish desires that emerge in my prayers as
fully unselfish requests, have no qualifier in His response. God would be happy to grant my petition to
heal … others. He would be delighted to
sustain … others. He would be delighted
to move mountains (real or spiritual) for others. To pray for the salvation of others is to pray
a prayer of guaranteed yes. When our
minds are in the right place, when we want the right things for the right
reasons, our prayers become more aligned with His will, and our answers from
God are more often positive, than negative.
But how to get our minds prepared for the clarity to pray in accordance
with His will, to pray with a complete lack of selfishness?
Mark continues in verse 25 saying … “And when ye stand
praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is
in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. [verse 26] But if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” First, let us be clear this is not a text
about the damnation of the soul, it is a text about the effectiveness of our
prayers, based on a reflection of the desires of our hearts. Next, examine what forgiveness does to the 2
people involved in the concept. For the
person being granted forgiveness, it is often because they have done something
bad to you. They have hurt you, like so
many of us do, when we love our self at your expense. So the person in the wrong is the one being
forgiven. But many times, the person who
has done the wrong, is not aware they have done so. Or, they are so bold, they do not want forgiveness,
and would never ask for it. For this
person, to be granted forgiveness, (even without the asking or wanting), it may
not be accepted or understood. So it
does little for them. Why would God ask
us to do it?
Now, consider for a moment what forgiveness does for
you. It is you who has been
wronged. It is you who is hanging on to
the pain and bitterness this incident has caused you. No one is arguing that you have been
hurt. God is only asking that in spite
of your pain, and your bitterness, that you … let it go … as you forgive the
one who did it to you. Granting
forgiveness, even to those who do not want it, frees YOU from the pain and
bitterness it caused. It may do nothing
for them, but it does everything for you, it sets you free. You are now free to love others, as you
should love them, without doubt, or hesitation, or precondition, or
limits. Forgiveness frees your mind, and
your heart. If by chance, the person who
has wronged you, would like forgiveness, because they have repented of their
deeds, your forgiveness will flood over them, like the love of God
Himself. They will not deserve it, but
this is not about what we all deserve, it is about what Love can do in spite of
what we deserve. Even if the offender
does not want your forgiveness now, when someday he does, and he realizes you
already gave it to him, it will break his heart as only the love of God can do.
God has already demonstrated to us what He is able to
forgive. But to get our minds in line
with His, to put our motives in alignment with God, we cannot hold on to the
pains that have been done to us. When we
do, it changes what we pray for. Our
bitterness from past wrongs done to us, alters how we love others, it
diminishes it. The warning about our God
in heaven being unable to forgive us while we hold to the wrongs of the past,
is an object lesson about how salvation works at all. God forgave Adam before he asked. God forgave you before you asked. If God held on to the pains you cause Him,
and would not let them go, you could never be saved. But this is not how love works. Love forgives even when it is wounded by the
deeds of others, whether by those close to us, or those who hate our guts. Forgiving them, forgiving any, who had
wounded us, frees our minds, and our hearts, to love rightly once again. It is liberating to us, even if not to the
forgiven.
Our owner and maker knows what must be made free within us,
to truly be free. It is our desires that
have been warped. As we give ourselves
to Him, He begins the work of asserting His ownership in our lives, changing
every single part of us, that we will allow Him to change. As He brings our motives and our hearts into
alignment with His own, our prayers will change. We will stop focusing on “me” in our prayers,
and begin to focus on “you” in our prayers.
Doing so, will yield a new crop of response, as the power of God is set
free to do its work. As we forgive
others, we are made free to love others, we are unburdened from our pain, and
God is finally allowed to heal it in us once and for all. While we hold on to our pain, we suffer from
it, as God is not allowed to take it from us.
Forgiveness changes all that.
Forgiveness makes us free again.
Forgiveness lets us love again, fully.
Our owner knows all of this, and it is why He offers it to us.
But the authority that comes from ownership was not to go
without challenge, and more was to come …
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