Provenance.
Until about a month ago, I didn’t know the meaning of the word.
After having heard it for the first time, I looked it up in a dictionary.
Provenance, defined, means the origin or source of something or its history of ownership.
I have no conscious memory of being born.
The recollection of the first months of my life seems unattainable.
I have very clear memories of my second year, although they are only a few in number.
By three years old?
I remember a lot.
Of course, my capacity to recollect increased considerably after that.
My origin?
Who really claims ownership over me?
I learned that much later.
God created me and gave me life.
It is He who truly owns me.
There came a point as I matured where I understood more than this.
I understood that I was a sinner—as all are—and I was in need of forgiveness from God.
Jesus died on the cross, paying the penalty for all my sin, so that I could receive this redemption.
Believing this, I repented and asked God to forgive me.
At that very moment, a new point of personal origin came into being.
My new life as a Christian began.
Provenance.
Knowing Jesus gives the word a whole new meaning…
*
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
–Ephesians 2:8
*