I have certain possessions that I really think of as mine on a level that deeper than that of having been the one who bought them. I tend to have a connection with these things, often attributing to them human traits, and going as far as giving them pet names sometimes.
Some of these personal items include my cellphone, laptop, some select clothes and shoes, and wallet, among other things.
The reasons aren’t all that vague. Some of them were gifts, so my attachment is understandable. Most of them were bought with my hard-earned money. And for the more expensive items, I always deliberate for quite some time before buying them. I research so obsessively about the product that I know of them even before I make the actual purchase.
For some of them, the familiarity comes from spending time with them for most of my waking hours, or having them close to me at all times, like my cellphone and wallet.
The connection that I make with these things is something that I recognize on an intuitive level. They are mine and no one else’s. They represent my personality. They do not define me, but each of them can be said to describe me.
I chose them, even the gifts eventually, and they are mine, and I take care of them. I don’t allow them out of my sight, and make sure that no harm comes to them. I do not lend them out indiscriminately, if at all. I invest in protective oa
Now take this comparison, and attribute them to the way that God chose us, and calls us His.
Far beyond something taken from a common store, we were crafted lovingly with His own hands. His knowledge of us runs deeper than any researched surface information. His love for us is endless, and is apparent in the tireless care He shows us, as He leads us by the hand and guides us through our everyday lives, treating us as special possessions, taking care that we don’t break.
His love is of the kind that won’t even “let our heads touch the bed without His hands behind it”. 🙂
If my cellphone falls to the ground and shatters into a hundred little pieces, I’ll probably cry out reflexively, but I can get over it, and I can buy a new phone anyway.
But to God, we are unique, one of a kind, precious. Even, one might say, irreplaceable.