Borrowers, All

Borrowers, All

A friend reminded me after a lovely catch-up dinner that I still had a borrowed book of his . . . three years after I’d first asked to read it. (Oh dear. Nailed.) When he told me the book’s title, I pictured the cover and remembered its contents, but I couldn’t say for sure whether it was still in my possession. I didn’t tell him this, but I panicked briefly, wondering if I might have sold his missing title along with a stack of my own books, quite by mistake!

A few days later (to my great relief) I located his book and let him know it was coming home soon. Then I began thinking of all the other borrowed things I possessed. Borrowed hats, umbrellas, and gloves; borrowed bowls and coffee mugs and spoons; and even a borrowed painting. After that quick inventory, I realized a few items of my own were outstanding as well. But honestly, I don’t mind.

Maybe that’s because I know that I am a borrower at my very core and always will be.

I borrowed righteousness when I had absolutely none to my name. I borrow grace every day. (More truthfully, every minute of every day.) I borrow strength when mine is waning, and I borrow hope when I can’t seem to muster much of it on my own. I borrow power when I am weak, wisdom when I am confused, and courage when I am fearful. I even borrow rest when I cannot seem to stop and peace when I am troubled. The gracious Loaner of all these things never hesitates to give, never grumbles, and never calls in his markers. None of this stuff is mine, and yet he makes it available as if it were. I say shyly, “May I please . . . ?” and “Could I have . . . ?” and “God, I need . . .” and he whispers, “As you wish. For as long as you need.” And he never makes me feel ashamed for having asked.

So if you see me in possession of any of these things, you must understand that they are not mine and never were. They’re his. He is the gracious giver of all that is good, true, and beautiful—and we are borrowers, all.

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

Luke 15:31, NIV