Ecclesiastes 5:4 “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.
It’s an amazing thing to think that we can promise God anything. The owner and creator of every atom in the universe needs nothing from us. The king does not beg the beggar, and the beggar cannot give the king an apple that fell from the king’s tree. He can only pick it up and present what already belonged to the king. So with Paul, we ask, “What do [we] have that [we] have not received?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)
I think most who strive to follow God understand we own nothing, and God owns everything. Yet I wonder if we fully consider what that means. When we say that we own nothing and God owns everything, it means just that. God owns it all, and therefore, all that we have He gave to us. So then, my money is not mine, it is God’s. Every penny. My time is not mine, it is God’s. Every second. My job is not mine, my house is not mine, my mind is not mine, my abilities are not mine, my friends are not mine, my wife is not mine and my sons are not mine. All these and everything else in my possession are not mine, but God’s.
So how can I, the owner of nothing, promise to give anything to God, who owns everything? An illustration might prove helpful.
Consider a mother who gives her son a box of crayons and a piece of paper. With these supplies, her son draws her a picture because he loves her and wants to please her. Yet, when he gives his mother the drawing, he gives nothing that was not already hers. She bought the crayons and the paper. It was at her chair and table that he drew his picture. It was her labor that prepared the food that sustained him while he drew. So, in one sense, her son has given her nothing that was not already hers. I believe this is true, but with one important exception… the drawing was his. What he did with the things he received was his gift.
What we do with what we have received is what affords us the ability to give to God. He, of course, does not need our gifts, but He supplies us with the metaphorical crayons and paper, nonetheless. He does so because He knows we desire to please Him. He also knows that we have nothing that is truly our own. Not a single solitary possession is ours and not already His. It would be truly awful to have nothing with which to bless God. Yet there is nothing better than to take something God gives us, and use it to give Him a drawing that tells Him we love Him. A drawing that tells the world that we love Him and feel immensely blessed to be His child.
The question at hand is, “what picture are we drawing?” What are we doing with what we have received from God to show Him we love Him, and are thankful to be His child? Where, and to what purpose, do you spend your time, money, and talents? All of which are gifts you have received from God.
Finally, know this. Your drawing will be yours and mine will be mine. Mine will capture a different image than yours. Your use of color will differ from mine. Mine could have more dark days than yours, and the marks of our tears will show up differently. There will be similarities, but each will be unlike the other. The picture I present to God when my life is over will be a one-of-a-kind work of art. One among billions! If you believe the individual doesn’t matter, think again! If you believe your picture does not matter, think again! My picture will be flawed in far too many places on this side of eternity, to be sure, but through Christ, it will be infused with the imputed righteousness of the Son, which will bring a smile to the Father’s face. How goes your drawing today? Your hands hold His crayons and you sit at His table. His provision is sustaining you so that you might draw. What picture have you promised God that you have set aside for too long? Pick up the things He gives you and use them to serve and glorify Him. Like the mother who receives the picture from her son, the skill of your drawing does not please God nearly as much as the love the picture expresses.