FINDERS KEEPERS (5 OF 52)
Scripture: 2nd Kings 7:3-13
This content is part of a series.
Finders Keepers (5 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part 3
Christopher B. Harbin
2nd Kings 7:3-13
''Finders keepers, losers weepers,'' was a phrase I grew up with. It hearkened back to an ancient Roman law determining ownership by right of possession. The way I heard it came from a children's rhyme stemming back to the 1800s, whereby one could claim ownership of anything someone had set down, dropped on the floor, or accidentally left behind. The concept might best be described in the way our dog takes ownership of pencils, SD cards, peppermint candies, or bags of chips left within his reach. ''If I get hold of it, it's mine!''
All too often, however, we tend to use this childish concept of ownership as adults with the same disregard of others exhibited by our puppy. ''If you want it back, you'll have to pry it out of my jaws!'' Often enough, I don't really want it back after he has slobbered all over it. Those SD cards might as well have been thrown in the fireplace. The only thing left of the peppermints were the wrappers. The next occupants of our house may be vacuuming up bits of number two pencil out of the carpets years after we are gone. We can do much better than going through life with my dog's concept of ownership, can't we?
Israel was struggling under a siege. The captain of the guard was at wit's end, sure that there was no escape from the city of Samaria. Things had gotten so bad a woman decried to the king that the only way to survive was to begin eating one another's children. Elisha called for faith in Yahweh's redemption, but no one was seemingly hopeful his word could be trusted. No one other than Elijah had enough confidence that Yahweh would see them through their desperation. They did not have the necessary imagination to see how their plight could possibly be reversed, even by the hand of Yahweh.
There was no food in the city. Enemies encamped beyond the walls. If the people of Samaria were in a bad situation, four lepers camped on ...
Series: Discipleship Part 3
Christopher B. Harbin
2nd Kings 7:3-13
''Finders keepers, losers weepers,'' was a phrase I grew up with. It hearkened back to an ancient Roman law determining ownership by right of possession. The way I heard it came from a children's rhyme stemming back to the 1800s, whereby one could claim ownership of anything someone had set down, dropped on the floor, or accidentally left behind. The concept might best be described in the way our dog takes ownership of pencils, SD cards, peppermint candies, or bags of chips left within his reach. ''If I get hold of it, it's mine!''
All too often, however, we tend to use this childish concept of ownership as adults with the same disregard of others exhibited by our puppy. ''If you want it back, you'll have to pry it out of my jaws!'' Often enough, I don't really want it back after he has slobbered all over it. Those SD cards might as well have been thrown in the fireplace. The only thing left of the peppermints were the wrappers. The next occupants of our house may be vacuuming up bits of number two pencil out of the carpets years after we are gone. We can do much better than going through life with my dog's concept of ownership, can't we?
Israel was struggling under a siege. The captain of the guard was at wit's end, sure that there was no escape from the city of Samaria. Things had gotten so bad a woman decried to the king that the only way to survive was to begin eating one another's children. Elisha called for faith in Yahweh's redemption, but no one was seemingly hopeful his word could be trusted. No one other than Elijah had enough confidence that Yahweh would see them through their desperation. They did not have the necessary imagination to see how their plight could possibly be reversed, even by the hand of Yahweh.
There was no food in the city. Enemies encamped beyond the walls. If the people of Samaria were in a bad situation, four lepers camped on ...
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