Belong

Belong - verb

1. To be in the relation of a member, adherent, inhabitant, etc.
2. To have the proper qualifications, esp. social qualifications, to be a member of a group
3.  To be proper or due; be properly or appropriately placed, situated, etc. 
4. To be the property of: To be a part or adjunct of:

  "Belong" is a word that has much deeper meaning than it is normally used for in everyday conversation. Usually we use it as meaning a term of ownership. From a Christian point of view, this word should be in the very foundation of your faith. Lets look at how many ways it applies to Gods plan for us.

First let's state the obvious and refer to definition 4. It is the only place in the Christian faith where ownership applies. This one is God's. It ALL belongs to Him! You, me, the birds and the bees, It's all His. Your money is not yours at all, it's His. He wants you to keep 90% of it however. I Most definitely belong to God Almighty. Although everyone does not acknowledge this fact, it still remains to be true. However, there is an unsavory truth that if you don't acknowledge Christ as savior, his ownership will be purged to a fiery hell. Stick with me here because we certainly don't want that!

On the flip side, God belongs to me. He is my God and for this I will refer to definitions One and Three. I am an inhabitant of the lords spirit and He lives in me . He is an inhabitant of my heart. Also as part of Gods plan for me, I am appropriately placed when I am aligned with Him. I am in the right situation when I am walking in the spirit of the lord. He is appropriately placed in me. As I Christian when I say that he is my God and he belongs to me, I am acknowledging that I belong to Him.

Lets talk about Marriage. My wife belongs to me and likewise, I belong to her. I'll refer to definitions three and four here. Although I certainly don't own her as stated in the definition four, she is a part of me and I her. We are a whole as sanctified through marriage. We should not be parted by anything other than death. As stated in definition three, with her I am properly and appropriately placed. Together with her is where I belong. That's Gods plan for us through marriage between a man and a woman.

So, Where do my wife and I belong? Where should we be? The answer is: in God's kingdom. To expand upon that we belong in a house of worship where there is community in the name of our Lord and Savior. We belong in church. It is where we should be and it belongs to us. For this we refer to definitions one, two and three. To be in church is "to be in relation to a member" and to be an "inhabitant" in the kingdom of Christ.   We are "properly placed" in the house of the Lord. We are "members of a group".

I want to go one step further within the church. My church makes use of small groups to feed it's community with fellowship and the word of God. It is just as it states, a small group of people within the church that come together outside of church in fellowship to worship and to love each other as God intended. I belong to a small group(definition two). Small group is what has made my relationship with church secure. It is what made me FEEL like I belonged. The people in small group made me feel like I belonged as they welcomed and loved my wife and I unconditionally. I can't imagine where I might be without it.

Each and every point I've made here can be expanded upon in great detail and I'm pretty sure there is scripture to support it. However, this is a BLOG entry and not a sermon, although it has the makings of a nice series. In Gods plan, we have a whole lot of belonging to do. If you don't belong you are obviously lost in the abyss. So I'll ask you this in closing: Do you belong? Where do you belong? Who do you belong to?