The Wondering Sheep: Episode 4 – Living the Christian Life
“Mine! Mine! Mine!”
January 1, 2026
What movie is the title line of this “story’” from (clues later!)? We just finished the long holiday season, that too often is about “getting” or “giving” the right stuff as a gift. The stuff that makes us cool, stand out, make us special and so on.
For a number of years my family had a white elephant gift exchange; a “white elephant” gift is one that no one would give or want to get. Numbers would be drawn for the order to pick a gift, and the first person picked up a package and opened it. Groans normally ensued. The second person chose a package or took the first gift; if that happened the first person chose and opened another gift. The third person chose either an opened gift or an unopened one. As you can imagine this got silly, especially since the usual gift people would desire was the goofiest gift opened! The best gift, the one that was chosen the most as it was traded around the most, was a headband with reindeer antlers on it that you could bend to face any direction. When the game ended, my brother-in-law said a loud, “MINE” and put it on. It was his, no doubt. You can imagine the laughter as this 23-year Marine vet put it on and played with it the rest of the evening!
MINE! That white elephant game, meant to poke fun of wanting a prize that was meant to be unwanted, became the center of the family celebration that evening. The ads over the Christmas season year after year want us to buy stuff. Some of that could be worth using or having. Others? Well, let’s just say that some things are not worth it–the troll dolls of 1971, pet rocks, the 50th Barbie doll, etc. Getting clothes was seldom on a guy’s wish list. The 243rd tie for dad, a vacuum cleaner for mom, and so on. No, we want the flashy stuff, the stuff we can show off with to our friends and show them up! “Look what I got! Look what I have! It’s MINE!”
We are now at the time many create New Year’s Resolutions. What did you do? Lose Weight? Exercise more? Stop smoking? Be nicer to people? Clean my room weekly? Wash the dishes daily? Unless you enjoy doing those things, doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?
New Year’s Resolutions beg some questions: why do we want more? How much of the stuff we want do we really need? What about the way our lives are, the things we do? God tells us to be satisfied with what He has given us. When was the last time we thought about ALL we have as being a gift from God? “Hey, I earned that!” Who gave you the ability to do the job that earned the money and even put us in that job?
When we say, “MINE!”, we should be saying, “GOD’S”. We all have long lists of stuff we want. Even if God gave it all to us, will we be satisfied? We just had a Powerball drawing worth well over 1-billion dollars. I didn’t win it - of course (I didn’t buy a ticket either). The Powerball teaches us lessons thought: did you know that the vast majority of people who win the big jackpots are flat broke in a few years? Money doesn’t make one completely happy. One of the talk-radio guys I listen to was talking today about his top New Years Resolution: to be satisfied with what he has. Not a bad idea. Remember that it all comes from God. We cannot take it with us. Instead, keep your eyes on our Savior, be in the Word, and enjoy what he gives each of us.
MINE! Did you know the movie it was from? Clue: seagulls. Still don’t know? It is from “Finding Nemo.” Happy New Year! Resolve to be content with what God has planned for you. his resolutions for you are the best!