"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbors."
I learned a lesson about coveting early in my life. When I was about ten years old, my neighbor got a new cap pistol. It was a great cap pistol. You have to understand that in 1949 a cap pistol to a ten year old boy was like a computer game to a ten year old today. It was "love at first sight." I had to have that cap pistol. When my neighbor wasn't looking, I absconded with the cap pistol, took it across the street to my house and hid it in my underwear drawer. At last, it was mine. But I discovered that it did not belong to me, rather, I belonged to it. I did not enjoy that cap pistol one bit, because I couldn't take it out of the drawer to play with it. If mama and daddy saw it, they would want to know where I got it. If I played with it outside, my neighbor would see it and know that I had stolen it. (It didn't occur to me at the time that I had broken two commandments - coveting and stealing.) So about a week later, I stealthily went to my neighbor's house and laid it down on his front porch and quietly sneaked back home. At last, I was free from that blooming cap pistol. At ten years old, I did not know what coveting meant, but I knew the effects of it. The fact that I remember this incident so clearly all of these years later, means that it made a profound impression on my mind. I wish that I could say that I never coveted again, but I can't. (However I did not steal another cap pistol, or anything else for that matter.) To live one's life wishing that one had what his neighbor has is a miserable way to live. I think you know what I mean. You could probably confess to coveting. Don't be like one fellow who said, "But at least I have never coveted my neighbor's donkey." The fact that his neighbor did not have a donkey must not have occurred to him. The key to overcoming covetousness is to put "things" in their proper perspective and in their proper place. There is nothing that our neighbor owns that we have to have to make our lives complete. "Things" do not complete us. We need to have Paul's attitude as written in Philippians 4:11-13 after he had received a monetary gift from the Philippian Church: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." There is the answer to overcoming covetousness. Amen! Bro. Joe
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(From the archives)
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbors." I learned a lesson about coveting early in my life. When I was about ten years old, my neighbor got a new cap pistol. It was a great cap pistol. You have to understand that in 1949 a cap pistol to a ten year old boy was like a computer game to a ten year old today. It was "love at first sight." I had to have that cap pistol. When my neighbor wasn't looking, I absconded with the cap pistol, took it across the street to my house and hid it in my underwear drawer. At last, it was mine. But I discovered that it did not belong to me, rather, I belonged to it. I did not enjoy that cap pistol one bit, because I couldn't take it out of the drawer to play with it. If mama and daddy saw it, they would want to know where I got it. If I played with it outside, my neighbor would see it and know that I had stolen it. (It didn't occur to me at the time that I had broken two commandments - coveting and stealing.) So about a week later, I stealthily went to my neighbor's house and laid it down on his front porch and quietly sneaked back home. At last, I was free from that blooming cap pistol. At en years old, I did not know what coveting meant, but I knew the effects of it. The fact that I remember this incident so clearly all of these years later, means that it made a profound impression on my mind. I wish that I could say that I never coveted again, but I can't. (However I did not steal another cap pistol, or anything else for that matter.) To live one's life wishing that one had what his neighbor has is a miserable way to live. I think you know what I mean. You could probably confess to coveting. Don't be like one fellow who said, "But at least I have never coveted my neighbor's donkey." The fact that his neighbor did not have a donkey must not have occurred to him. The key to overcoming covetousness is to put "things" in their proper perspective and in their proper place. There is nothing that our neighbor owns that we have to have to make our lives complete."Things" do not complete us. We need to have Paul's attitude as written in Philippians 4:11-13 after he had received a monetary gift from the Philippian Church: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." There is the answer to overcoming covetousness. Selah Bro. Joe "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy?”
I’m sure that all of us have been guilty of envy for one reason or another. We intrinsically know that it is a sin because of the way it makes us feel when we surrender to it. We will all have to admit that envious moments are not among the highlights of our lives. Proverbs 27:4 records that envy is worse than cruelty or anger. Since we are prone to envy, we need to discover its sources to keep it from taking over our lives. Envy, like everything else, is born in our hearts; therefore we need to keep it out of our hearts.. Envy is born in a selfish heart. When we envy someone else, we are not thinking about them, but about ourselves. When we envy people we fail to rejoice with them in their successes. We selfishly wish that their success was ours. We need to guard our hearts against failing to rejoice with others. Envy is born in an unloving heart. Envy and Christian love cannot live comfortably together in our hearts. We do not envy people that we really love. For example, if one of our children, or grandchildren, does something we obviously do not envy them. However, if someone else’s child does something great we, unfortunately, might envy them. Why? We love our own children and grandchildren, but we might love our neighbor’s children and grandchildren enough not to envy them. If we will see envy as a lack of love, we will, or should, want to do something about it. Jesus said that people would know that we are Christians by the love that we have for each other. When envy enters the picture, people cannot see Christ in us. The next time envy rises up in your heart and mind ask yourself if you love the one that you envy. Envy is born in a prideful and strife-filled heart. I put envy and strife/troublemaking together because, according to the Bible, they belong together. Proverbs 13:10a: “Only by envy cometh contention….” 1Timothy 6:4-5: “He is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes by words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmising, perverse disputing of men of corrupt minds….” James 3:16: “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” The Bible definitely connects envy, pride and strife. We need to see that connection in our own hearts. A prideful heart is intrinsically given to envy. It cannot help but envy. We need to ask ourselves if we have prideful hearts. Look into your heart and root out every vestige of false pride Envy is born in a bitter heart. James 3:14: “But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie against the truth." Hebrews 12:15: “Looking diligently lest a man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness spring up and trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” We need to guard our hearts against roots of bitterness. Only sincere, honest prayer can keep bitterness from taking root in our hearts. Bitterness causes all kinds of defilement, and chief among them is envy. Frankly, we are slow to recognize bitterness in our own hearts. We cannot confess what we will not admit. We might feel justified in our bitterness. We might say: “If you knew that I person like I do, you would be bitter too.” Or we might say: “If you had to endure what I had to endure, you would be bitter too.” As long as we excuse bitterness, it will do its wicked work in our lives. Check your own heart for envy, and if you discover it confess, repent and go on with your life. Bro. Joe “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.”
If you were to go through the files of a preacher, you would probably not find many, if any, sermons from Leviticus. Leviticus is a long treatise on the laws that the Jews were to follow in their travels and in the land of Canaan when they reached it. But scattered throughout the book are little pearls of wisdom that can teach us a lot about how we should live. Leviticus 20:9-10 is one of those pearls of wisdom. It is called “the law of gleaning,” meaning that they were to leave the gleanings of the harvest for the poor and the alien. A good example of this law is found in the book of Ruth, where Ruth picked the gleanings in the field of Boaz. What can this ancient law teach us about our responsibilities? It teaches us that we are not to be unconcerned about the physical needs of people less fortunate than ourselves. It is certain that there are some people who have mastered the art of being poor and make their living off of other people. But we are not to assume that about all people. Some people are genuinely in need, and as followers of the most unselfish person who ever lived, Jesus Christ, we are not to be indifferent to the needs of people. In Matthew 25, Jesus told us that we would be judged based on how we treated people less fortunate than ourselves: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger and you took me in: naked and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Jesus gave that as an example of people who were doing the right thing. When we give a helping hand to people, we are doing what Jesus has called us to do. If someone comes along and takes advantage of our good nature, and we did not know it, we can thank God that we did what Jesus told us to do. It teaches us that we are not to be selfish people who hold everything for ourselves. Jesus gave an example of a man who had a bumper crop one year and did not even consider the law of gleaning. He rejoiced in all that he had, and kept it all for himself. He decided that instead of sharing his goods with other people, he would keep it all for himself. In order to do this, he went to the extent of building bigger barns in which to store all of his crops. (Luke 12:16-21) Jesus does not want us to be selfish, but He also does not want us to be foolish. Jesus advised His disciples to be as “wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” In other words, we are to be helpful and compassionate toward people, but we are also to teach those who would take advantage of people to live better lives. My idea is that when I don’t know what the motives of a person are, I will do what I can to help them because this is what Jesus taught me to do. If I know that they are trying to take advantage of me, I will turn them away. But I really have to know that they are not being honest with me. I don’t want to find out one day that I was approached by an angel as a test and turned him away. (Yes, I believe in angels.) It teaches us that God wants us to be aware that we are to love people. We are not to withhold ourselves, or our substance, from other people because we are afraid of what will happen to us. Some people seem to be afraid that they are going to help somebody, and will go out of their way not to help people, because they are afraid of being taken advantage of. If we love people, we will minister to them as best we can, or lead them to someone who can help them. Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, loved people and ministered to them, and He wants the same for us. We are not on this earth just to be served, but to serve as well. Give some thought to the law of gleaning in your own life. Bro. Joe “And one of the company said unto (Jesus), Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14. And (Jesus) said unto him, Man who made me a judge or divider over you? 15. And (Jesus) said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses.”
Jesus was not reacting to just what the man said, but what Jesus knew was in the man’s heart. The man was making this request because he was covetous, or as we would say today, he was greedy. Then Jesus told the familiar parable about the farmer who had a bumper crop one year and instead of sharing it with others as Jewish law required, he built bigger barns and claimed it all for himself. Jesus, who created everything, and who actually owns everything, was not covetous, and He certainly warned us against it as well. What is wrong with being covetous? A covetous person is thinking only of himself or herself. Let’s refer back to the parable. The man in the parable did not wish to share his good fortune with others, but opted to keep it for himself. (Count the personal pronouns in the parable.) Jesus Himself was certainly not selfish, nor does He want us to be selfish. Paul wrote about this in Philippians 2:4: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” A covetous spirit says that I am the only person that counts. That is counter to everything that is taught in the Christian faith. God is a giving God and He wants His people to be giving people. The Bible does not teach that it is a sin to be rich, but that it is a sin to be ruled by riches. Jesus said that it was “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of God." He did not say that it was impossible. He did intimate that it is easy for possessions to take us over and make us act selfishly. A covetous person does not own things, rather he or she is owned by things. This was illustrated by Jesus’ encounter with what we have traditionally called “the rich young ruler.” This incident is recorded in Luke 18:18-23. The gist of it is that the young man wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. After Jesus talked with him about the commandments, the young man said that he had kept all of those. So Jesus told him that he lacked one thing and that what he should do is to sell all that he had and distribute it to the poor, then he would have heavenly riches. Jesus did not make that demand on all rich people, but he saw into the heart of this young man and knew that he was possessed by his possessions and that he would never take a step of faith as long as he depended on his possessions. It is easy for we affluent Americans to be owned by our possessions, because we have so many of them. A covetous person cannot be a genuinely happy person. This goes against everything that we believe today. People across America spend millions of dollars playing the lottery, thinking that if they win all of that money they will be happy. There has been follow-up on many of these big lottery winners, and a good many of them did not end up happier. In all fairness, this does not speak of all lottery winners, but it does speak of a lot of them. (One of their complaints is that they discover that they had kin folks that they never knew they had.) Money and possessions do not make us happy. A person who has a lot of money is happy if his or her money does not rule his or her life. Not all rich people are covetous, and there are middle class and poor people who are covetous. Whatever your financial standing, what you possess cannot make you happy. You have to be happy in your heart, mind and soul. I pray that you are not a covetous person and that you are not owned by what you possess. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in your possessions. Bro. Joe “Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead always fear the Lord.
18. For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.” (CSB) The tenth commandment admonishes us not to covet anything that anybody else has. In fact coveting means that we want something that somebody else has. A word that is closely aligned with coveting is envy. Proverbs 23:17 tells us:“Don’t let your heart envy sinners.” We look at someone whose life in no way honors God, and we wonder why they are doing better than we are? We might say: “It looks to me like God would help me to have more than the person who is not living right.” In the first place, this is the wrong motive for serving God. If we are serving G“Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead always fear the Lord. 18. For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.” (CSB) The tenth commandment admonishes us not to covet anything that anybody else has. In fact coveting means that we want something that somebody else has. A word that is closely aligned with coveting is envy. Proverbs 23:17 tells us:“Don’t let your heart envy sinners.” We look at someone whose life in no way honors God, and we wonder why they are doing better than we are? We might say: “It looks to me like God would help me to have more than the person who is not living right.” In the first place, this is the wrong motive for serving God. If we are serving God for what we can get out of Him, we need to take another look at our service. The fact that someone else has more than we do is no measure of our standing with God or with the world. What another person has does not take anything away from you. The most important thing is not what we have, but what we are in our hearts. In fact, to go beyond this text, the Bible tells us not to envy anybody. Christians should rejoice in other people’s successes, and be the first to congratulate them and be proud for them. We cause ourselves a lot of problems when we think that we have to “keep up with the "Joneses.” The truth is that if you could get what the “Joneses” have, you would then want what the “Smith’s” have. I think you get the point: Be satisfied with what you have and do not worry about what other people have. If we envy someone, it is difficult for us to love them and to have a good relationship with them. It bothers me that there seems to be a lot of envy of rich people in America today. It seems to me that to build an argument on envy is to build a poor foundation for life. If somebody worked for what they have, they deserve it. If someone inherited what they have, they also deserve it. It is not any of my business how they got their wealth. If they got what they have by breaking the law, I will leave that between them, God, and the law. I just know that I do not want to waste one minute of my life envying what someone else has, no matter how they got it. Envy does not promote love, and it does not promote good relationships between people. We cannot build our lives on envy and live close to God. Our text tells us that instead of envying sinners, or anyone else, we should “fear God.” That means that we are to have the utmost reverence and respect for God, and we cannot have that if we are wasting our time on envy. Envy does not, and cannot, please God. If something cannot please God then it will certainly interfere with our relationship with Him. When we envy, we are focusing on “things” instead of on God/Jesus. When we envy, we are not concentrating on serving the Lord. When we envy, we harm our relationship with God. Envy is a sin and sin always decimates our relationship with God. We will not stop envying until we realize that it is a sin. When we realize that envy is a sin,we will know that it is not a good thing to have in our lives. We need to examine our hearts and minds and determine if there is anyone that we envy for any reason. If we discover that there is envy in our hearts, we need to confess, repent and turn from it like we would any other sin – and stop it! Why? Envy is the pits and will not bring anything good into our lives. Bro. Joe od for what we can get out of Him, we need to take another look at our service. The fact that someone else has more than we do is no measure of our standing with God or with the world. What another person has does not take anything away from you. The most important thing is not what we have, but what we are in our hearts. In fact, to go beyond this text, the Bible tells us not to envy anybody. Christians should rejoice in other people’s successes, and be the first to congratulate them and be proud for them. We cause ourselves a lot of problems when we think that we have to “keep up with the "Joneses.” The truth is that if you could get what the “Joneses” have, you would then want what the “Smith’s” have. I think you get the point: Be satisfied with what you have and do not worry about what other people have. If we envy someone, it is difficult for us to love them and to have a good relationship with them. It bothers me that there seems to be a lot of envy of rich people in America today. It seems to me that to build an argument on envy is to build a poor foundation for life. If somebody worked for what they have, they deserve it. If someone inherited what they have, they also deserve it. It is not any of my business how they got their wealth. If they got what they have by breaking the law, I will leave that between them, God, and the law. I just know that I do not want to waste one minute of my life envying what someone else has, no matter how they got it. Envy does not promote love, and it does not promote good relationships between people. We cannot build our lives on envy and live close to God. Our text tells us that instead of envying sinners, or anyone else, we should “fear God.” That means that we are to have the utmost reverence and respect for God, and we cannot have that if we are wasting our time on envy. Envy does not, and cannot, please God. If something cannot please God then it will certainly interfere with our relationship with Him. When we envy, we are focusing on “things” instead of on God/Jesus. When we envy, we are not concentrating on serving the Lord. When we envy, we harm our relationship with God. Envy is a sin and sin always decimates our relationship with God. We will not stop envying until we realize that it is a sin. When we realize that envy is a sin,we will know that it is not a good thing to have in our lives. We need to examine our hearts and minds and determine if there is anyone that we envy for any reason. If we discover that there is envy in our hearts, we need to confess, repent and turn from it like we would any other sin – and stop it! Why? Envy is the pits and will not bring anything good into our lives. Bro. Joe |
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