I grew up in a neighborhood where children freely wandered into neighbors’ yards, and even played games there. Nobody seemed to mind–except for my friend’s mother, next door. She took about 25 years to warm up to me.
One day, no one else around to play with, I went into my friend’s back yard to play in their sandbox. His mother came out and told me to get lost. “Don’t you understand that this is my yard, not yours?”
I think I was only four years old at the time. And my answer was, “It’s Jesus’ yard!”
What made me say that? I don’t know. All I do know is that Jesus Christ was as real to me as this neighbor. His picture hung in my house, as it did in the homes of all my family members. We sang “Jesus Loves Me” in Sunday nursery school. We said our prayers at night. And special prayers for special needs, like when you were scared of something.
I wasn’t propounding a theological argument. Of course it was Jesus’ yard. They were all Jesus’ yards. I was merely stating a fact. I wish I could remember how Mrs. G reacted to it. I don’t think she yelled at me.
Sometimes children are wiser than they ever know.
Truly a profound observation, on your part. Not bad for a four-year-old. I believe in property rights, but it’s good to remember that everything we have, ultimately, came from an Authority far beyond any human authority.
Jesus’ backyard, yes! The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
Oh, brother, how I greatly agree with you on this. This greatly abridged portion is from Chapter Three of my book “Israel, Rapture, Tribulation.”
“The devil does not own this planet; he is not the prince of this world; he is a defeated foe. Jesus vanquished the devil on the cross…the Book of Psalms…leaves no doubt about who reigns as King. Over and over, it tells us:
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle (Psalm 24:8). The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them (Psalm 89:11)…For the LORD most high … he is a great King over all the earth. The earth is the LORD’S and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein (Psalm 24:1).
…In the New Testament, Jesus celebrates the Lord of this world: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Matt. 11:25). In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” The one who is all-powerful (I will give you a hint, it isn’t the devil) is the one in charge—the true and eternal ruler. In Colossians, Paul tells us everything is God’s… (Col. 1:16–20).
…Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that Christ, after the resurrection, had taken his seat on the throne of his father, David. Peter said, “God … would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ” (Acts 2:30–31, 5:31). Paul says we are now in the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). In his epistle to the Church at Ephesus, Paul tells us when Jesus was raised from the dead, He was set at the right hand of God “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named … and hath put all things under his feet” (Eph. 1:20–22).
…There are many verses of Scripture that teach Jesus is King now, He is reigning now, and His kingdom is a present reality. If Jesus had not been crowned King, He would not be reigning. Consider the following:
“[W]e have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities … Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14–16)…”