"Property of Jesus"

Have you seen people wearing shirts that say "Property of Jesus" Perhaps you have seen them for sale in a Christian book store? Have you stopped to consider just what that motto says about the wearer, or more importantly just what it might say about you?

'Property' in a business dictionary, is defined as:

"Quality or thing owned or possessed. In Law: Article, item, or thing owned with the rights of possession, use, and enjoyment,... "

So if we are the property of another, then they have complete control over us. We are in fact their slave. According to the dictionary, a slave is "someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay; a person who is strongly influenced and controlled"

I wonder if the persons wearing these shirts ever consider what they are actually proclaiming? If in fact they are the 'Property of Jesus', does that not mean that they have no choice but to live as he told us all to live according to the gospels? That they have sold all that they had and have given it to the poor? That they love their enemies as themselves? That they are living a life of non-violence towards all? And not only that they are living that way, but that they have no choice but to do so, because they are totally under the control of another.

This leaves me wondering. When we are 'Property of Jesus' we have no choice as slaves but have to live the way he tells us to - not because we love others. In John 14:21, Jesus says 'They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’(NRSV) or as that well known verse from 1 Corinthians 13:13 says 'And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.' This suggests to me that the writer of the gospel and Paul both felt that we showed our love for Jesus, not by our slavery to Jesus, but by freely following his commandments

Yes, being the property of Jesus is easier. You don't need to think, you have no choice but to do what he commands. But you also don't need to love!

That is why I will choose to be a follower of Jesus instead, someone that attempts to put his teachings into practice, someone that attempts to learn to live with love, someone who will stray off the path but will struggle to find it again. Yes, that way is harder, but as the writer of Matthew puts it,

'Then Jesus said to His disciples, ... "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." '(Matthew 16:24-25).

How do you choose to live this week?

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