Perhaps one of the best lessons I learned in life is simply–all that exists (physically) belongs to God. At best we are only caretakers. Scripture tells us that “God owns all the cattle on a thousand hills”. One should read Psalms 50.
Yes, we may have a deed or a receipt, but God holds us responsible for that property He has given us to use and also how we treat the property of other caretakers.
When I was a boy we rented a lot of houses and we always, always, upon vacating the houses put them in much better shape than when we moved in– even if they were filthy and poorly kept upon our original entrance.
I ask my dad about this one day after spending hours of working on and cleaning a rental house that was a shambles when we move in to it. He told me that this house did not belong to the so called owner, but rather to God and then explained what I call the “truth of ownership act”.
When people disrespect the property of others it also shows a disrespect for God the owner of all things. I know of a person who borrowed several items from a neighbor and later became angry at the neighbor. He threw a heavy item over the fence instead of taking it to him. The item could have been easily damaged. He was also seen doing other things to the neighbors house and property.
It was not long when a person driving through the neighborhood saw one of the children of that man. The child was seen disrespecting the property of another homeowner. I guess children do learn what they see and quickly pickup the attitudes of adults. I wonder in five or ten years if that man’s children will disrespect the property that he is the caretaker of–if no, they learned it from him.
God owns it all! At best we are only caretakers! I guess some people never ask themselves the question, “Am what I am about to do right or wrong?”