We are His.
I was walking down a busy road recently when I noticed a young boy on a yellow bike by a zebra crossing. As he noticed me, he declared that he was trying to get to the other side but he was scared, sensing rightly that it wasn’t safe to cross on his own. After a minute or two, his parents appeared around the corner. The little boy still needed to cross the dangerous road but he belonged to two adults who went with him and he was kept safe.
Belonging to another person has fairly negative connotations at the moment with racial injustice at the forefront of our collective mind. We should rightly affirm that human ownership of another person is wrong and cuts against the inherent God-given dignity and value of every individual.
But in this world full of trouble and unrest, there is a right sense of belonging that can cut through the anxious chaos.
Who do we belong to?
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
Let that sink in. You have been made by God and you are his. You are part of his flock and you belong to him. Try inserting your own name and say it out loud: I, ______ have been made by God. I, ______ belong to him. I, _______ am a part of his flock.
Covid-19 may have created new anxieties or amplified pre-existing ones. Anxious thoughts may make you feel like you’re alone against a scary world. Anxiety whispers that no one is with you, that you have to cross the dangerous road on your own. But Psalm 100 speaks a better word. Psalm 100 says you are not alone. Psalm 100 says you have been brought into the sheepfold of the Great Shepherd, ultimately through Christ, and there is no fear of being kicked out. Not even death itself can separate you from the love of the One you belong to (Romans 8).
Who is the God we belong to?
“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
It would be no comfort at all if you belonged to a God who was untrustworthy and unreliable. If anything, that would likely make your anxiety even worse! But the Lord is not those things. He is good. His love is steadfast through the ages. His faithfulness does not waver though fears may come and go. This is someone you want to belong to, especially when the days are rough. Because you belong to him, he is constantly and consistently for you, and what’s more, he has given you a church family to walk with you through the ups and downs of life too. Knowing you belong to this God is an antidote to your fear.
What are you worried about? What keeps you awake at night? What thoughts circle round and round in your mind? Dear Christian, no matter how big or scary your anxieties are, you are not your own or on your own. You belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to your faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
It’s a simple truth summed in three words: “I am his.” Why not savour this truth in song?