Timeshare or Ownership

Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight. Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents. So make your father happy! Make your mother proud! (Proverbs 23:24)

What is the difference between 'buying into' and 'buying'? If you are a timeshare owner, you know 'buying into' means you own a small portion (a share) of the property - one week a year. It is a vacation spot for you, but you don't permanently reside there. You 'bought into' it, but you didn't 'buy' it. When we purchase something it becomes ours, doesn't it? We now 'own it' and we are responsible for maintaining it. That timeshare - there is a company that maintains it based upon the fees you pay each year. The home you own is yours - plumbing, roofing, yardwork, and all the rest of the maintenance that goes into it. You have responsibilities that make the 'purchase' real and lasting.

Truth isn't something we can just 'buy into' - owning a small portion of it and then not having any responsibility to maintain. We have to buy it - get it as our own - and then work hard to maintain the purity and validity of it in our lives. Truth brings insight, but do we treat truth as something we rely upon on occasion, or all the time? Just think back to your last day's actions and you may be able to answer that question. Did you always make the wisest choices with the food you put into your body? Did you get off your duff and get some exercise? Did you take time shut down the things you were doing and listen as a loved one shared something of interest to them? If you find there was any 'less than perfect' decision or moment there, you might just 'know' truth, but you aren't the owner of it yet!

The truth says we need to be wise in our choices - from the food we take into our bodies to the investment of ourselves into the relationships we maintain with each other. Wise choices don't just come to those who 'buy into' truth - truth must become our own - we have to "own it". As hard as that sounds, it really isn't. In fact, we are given the Holy Spirit to help us understand truth and then to help us see where that truth can be applied in our daily lives. All truth, regardless of how small, is meant to be put into 'use' in our lives. When we allow truth to be 'in action' within us, we will find it begins to influence our decisions and those decisions are the beginning of all our actions. 

How do we 'own' truth? At first, we may 'buy into' it, but if we really want it to begin to change our lives at the core of who we are (at the soul level), we need to ask God to show us how we begin to 'own it' as the truth that guides each action we take. A timeshare owner is only responsible for one action - pay your fees annually. The timing is known, but the fees are not. They change from time to time, making the 'ownership' a very uncertain thing. When we just 'buy into' truth in the season we think we need to use it, we won't enjoy it in the seasons where we might most need it. The importance of truth is that is 'grows' over time - it multiplies and spreads out into other areas of our life than the one area we thought we'd use it in. 

Truth isn't just given to us - it is sought and as we can see from our passage today - it is 'purchased'. It costs us something. Some think 'truth' is something they cannot 'afford' because it will 'cost them too much', so they treat it like a 'timeshare' of sorts. They take bits and portions in the seasons they want them to help them out, 'paying' whatever cost it may require in that season. They don't use that same truth in the other seasons because they haven't really taken 'ownership' of it for ALL seasons of their life choices. Why? Perhaps it is the 'cost', or perhaps it is that they don't see the value in 'owning it' yet. When God begins to move across their minds, touching their hearts, and filling their vacant souls, they come to realize the value of 'ownership' far outweighs the value in being a 'truth timesharer'. Just sayin!