Ownership

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19

“It finally came!” Jack said, eagerly tearing open the package that had just arrived. “Here’s the special marker set I ordered. The markers come in lots of different colors, and look—there’s even a case with a handle so you can carry them around.” Jack held up the case of markers so his mom could see it. His little sister Teagan reached for it, but Jack pulled it back. “These markers cost me money,” he said. “Nobody gets to use them but me.”

“I can use them too!” Teagan insisted.

“No, you can’t,” said Jack. “These are mine, and they’re special. You have plenty of other markers you can use to draw pictures with. You can’t use these.”

Teagan pouted. “Can too,” she said. “Can’t I, Mommy?”

Mom shook her head. “Only if Jack says you can,” she said. “Jack paid for the markers, so he has the right to say if or when you can use them.”

“Hey, that’s like what we talked about in my class at church last week,” said Jack. “Mr. Wyatt said God bought us and we belong to Him.”

“How did God buy us?” Teagan asked. “Did we cost a lot?”

“Yes, we did,” Mom replied. “It cost Jack some money to buy that set of markers, but it cost Jesus His blood to purchase our salvation.” Mom smiled at Teagan. “God made you and loves you, but you do wrong things. You’ve sinned—all of us have—and sin separates us from God, because He is good and it goes against who He is. But God still loves you, and He paid a great price to buy you back. The sacrifice Jesus made when He shed His blood by dying on the cross paid the price of your sin so you could be forgiven and belong to God.”

“I gave up some of my own money to buy this,” said Jack, looking at the case of markers he was holding. “But God gave up His own Son to buy us!” Jack opened the case and put it on the table. “Here, Teagan,” he said. “Since I belong to God, I want to obey Him. And I think He’d want me to share these with you.”

-Hazel W. Marett

How About You?

Do you have something that you bought with your own money? If you paid for it, it’s yours, isn’t it? Well, did you know that Jesus paid the price to free you from sin? He loves you so much that He willingly shed His blood so you could have your wrongs forgiven. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? Trust in Him today, and you will belong to Him. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse: 1 Peter 1:18-19 You were bought, but not with things that ruin like gold or silver. You were bought with the precious blood of Christ’s death. (ERV)

Today’s Key Thought:

You belong to God