To Covet Is To Never Acquire

Thursday's Devotion (1-19-06)

"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 ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's." Exodus 20:17 (KJV)

As I always feel the need to say, "Thy neighbor," isn't just your next door neighbor. No matter where you're at, it's talking about your neighbors on the other side of the world too. It's talking about all human beings. Think about it! Would it make sense for it to be ""ok" for you to covet what belongs to someone who lives 2,000 miles away, and not be "ok" for you to covet what your next door neighbor has? Someone explain to me the logic of thinking that it'd be ok to do that as long as it's not to your neighbor in your part of town. You can't tell me that some people don't think that way either... Because I've had Christians online treat me like total trash, and their excuse is that they don't know me in person. It doesn't matter! "Love thy neighbor as thyself." I just wanted to get that part out of the way.

To covet is to desire something that doesn't belong to you, or to envy another for what they possess. An example would be: "I envy you for having those shoes," or, "I wish I had those shoes!" It's hard to find people that can be happy for you because you have things that maybe they don't have. Actually, it's hard to find people that are happy that you might have the same things that they have. People want to be superior. People also just want good things in life. I want a brand new car, and some major record label deals. But guess what? If I'm not content with what is given to me, then God isn't going to bless me with more. I don't need to worry about these things. I have Jesus Christ, and that's enough. The rest will follow in due time. It's sinful to be greedy, it's sinful to envy, it's sinful to never be thankful for what we already have and to just want more. I'll tell you one thing: We better hope that God is NOTHING like me. Because when I do something for people, and they complain and show no gratitude... Never again. I don't volunteer to do anything for them again. It's just too much stress to try and do something that you don't have to do, and then have people complain and want more. It's too much for me. Complainers and envious people get nothing! Don't envy what others have, go out and earn what they have if you want it! It doesn't come by complaining, that only makes things worse. It's like a school grade. You see the person next to you got an A+ on their report card... You aren't going to get the same grade unless you work for it too! It isn't going to jump on your report card solely because you want it to. You have to pray and by faith you have to work for it. Every man earns his own keep, that's the way God teaches us to be. He doesn't teach us to steal our neighbor's dinner... He teaches us to work for our own! If covet means to envy or to desire something that isn't yours... then it also means to never acquire. Because as long as you are busy coveting what belongs to your neighbor, you can't earn your own.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message, and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins, and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us not to covet, help us to be content and happy with what we already have. We have you, and you provide for us... We really don't need anything else. We thank you for what we do have. In Jesus name. A-men!

God bless!

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