Get your checkbook ready. You owe Angeles Duran some money.
Back in 2010, Duran filed a claim of ownership for the sun. That’s right, this 53 year old woman went down to the local notary office and got the official stamp on her ownership of the sun, the giant ball of gas that’s been warming and lighting our planet since creation. She now claims that you, I and everyone else on earth now owe her back taxes on our use of the celestial body.
Now, I’m no lawyer, so who am I to dispute her legal claim? Instead of arguing with her rights I’ve decided to file a few claims of my own. Consider this your notice of my claim of ownership of air. That’s right; every breath you take you’ll be owing me! In addition to paying my back taxes for breathing I’ll also be collecting commercial use from airlines flying their planes through my air. I’ll have to sue Michael Jordan for copyright infringement from the name “Air Jordan.” Oh, and I’ll be charging a lot of people a cleaning fee for befouling my air. I’ll probably start by suing Taco Bell for that.
Of course, the only real hitch in Angeles’ claim of ownership of the sun is that the original owner is still around. Psalm 74:16 says of God, “Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.” Considering those words were written thousands of years ago, Angeles might have trouble collecting her back taxes.
And thankfully, the rightful owner allows us full use for free. In fact, Psalm 74 mentions God’s ownership of the sun in connection to an even greater free gift—salvation! Psalm 74:12 says, “God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” The Bible tells us that this gift is freely given so that God might show “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7)
The warmth you feel on your face when you step outside and the light that fills our world are reminders of God’s kindness towards us. They point us to a gracious God who freely gives salvation to anyone who calls on his name.
And that’s a promise you can take to the bank!
