Covetousness: May 2, 2013

Today's Word for Thursday MAY 2, 2013

COVETOUSNESS

DEFINITION:

Long for; desire enviously; wrongfully desire what belongs to another; a desire for an unjust gain.

SCRIPTURE:

And Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Luke 12: 15.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

On many occasions we have watched our children and other children playing. Children always seem to want the toy another child is playing with. It doesn't seem to matter that there may be a dozen other toys or that they could have chosen that toy long before the toy was taken by the other child. The child wants that one and wants it now, so in most cases they just take it.

As parents we know that it is not right so we have to intervene. Unfortunately, one of the problems with families today is that a parent does not intervene at times like this and children develop bad traits that stay with them for a lifetime. Adults are covetous just like children. We never think of wanting something, in many cases, until we see someone else has it. When we covet what someone else has we are breaking God's Tenth Commandment.

On the internet there is a web page called, "The Law of Attraction." Evidently this is a popular idea floating around about how to get whatever you want. One must just think and feel what you want to attract.

This positive thinking philosophy teaches that the energy of your dominant thoughts "attracts" your circumstances. The theory is the more desire you have for a thing, the greater will be the attractive force exerted toward its attainment, both within yourself and outside of yourself. To us this sounds like coveting. It seems that this so called law basically offers one the "things" in life that you "want" but do not have. This is certainly not what we learn from the Bible. The Bible has nothing to say about such a law.

WARNING: Do not get caught up in "Laws" like this because they will distract you, at the least, from your Christian walk with the Lord. Look to the Bible for all the theories you need.

We are to use our God-given abilities and work to provide for ourselves. As believers, we have good reason to be positive in our thinking, but it is because our heavenly Father understands our needs and meets them. Because He cares for us, we do not have to be anxious (Luke 12: 29-30). In the verse we have written above (Luke 12:15) we are reminded that life does not consist "in the abundance of things that we possess. The believer’s goal is not to accumulate riches. The believer’s goal is to be rich in God. (Luke 12:31)

In this verse above Jesus tells us to "Take heed and beware of covetousness" because one day, like the rich fool in the parable, in Luke 12:16-21, we will leave it all behind. When that day comes for us to go to our Heavenly Father we will have more than we ever dreamed. In the meantime, God promises to provide all our needs. We do not need to follow foolish ideas like "the law of attraction" when we are a child of God. He has promised to supply all our needs, not all of our desires. Our greatest desire should be to be "rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). We become rich toward God by faith and obedience and by serving Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in James 4:17

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the assurance that we have that You will provide all of our needs. Help us not to covet the things of this world but seek the riches of God. Help my family to continue to seek You daily and communicate to You daily so that You can protect us from evil and bless us with Your goodness.