Beware of Covetousness

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown. Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost. As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared. He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes he was dead. Afterwards, his servants dug a grave. It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide. The title of Tolstoy's story was: How Much Land Does a Man Need? - Bits & Pieces, November, 1991.

Good morning and welcome to the Panhandle, come on is and pull up a chair and sit for awhile. Today our Biblesurfing takes us to Luke 12:15. Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do just about anything to get it? There’s nothing wrong with wanting stuff as long as that want doesn’t interfer with your walk with the Lord. I guess it comes down to priorities, and were we place them. So let’s open God’s Word and see what is has to say about covetousness.

In the middle of Christ Jesus’ teachings about life in the kingdom, someone interrupts with a request: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” And Jesus says, “Who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” (Luke 12:14).

¹⁵ And he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves from all greediness, because not even when someone has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

Christ Jesus came to reconcile us to God and to each other, and not to reallocate wealth. This man wasn’t even asking Christ Jesus for a judicial opinion; he simply wanted Christ Jesus to tell his brother to give him a share. Christ Jesus reminds us that possessions do not give life its meaning. Possessions can become the center of our life so that we become full of greed.¹ In fact, they become a substitute for the proper object of man’s search and worship—God.² ~ Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5).

Then there’s reverse greed. We abhor possessions, as if they were evil in themselves. We want to be pure and above all that. Some of you may remember Gert Behanna, author of The Late Liz, and an evangelist of the late fifties and sixties. She was converted late in life and at the time felt led to give away her sizable fortune. She later regretted that decision. I heard her say often how much she would have enjoyed having that money for the people and the causes that she cared about in later life. Certainly God took care of her, but she missed the fun of being a steward. I think Jesus is saying here we need not be afraid of possessions. If they come, it’s a great privilege to use them in God’s causes.

Those people who suffer from “reverse greed” have difficulty believing that Christ Jesus wore what was in His time a Brooks Brother suit. He had only one garment, but a seamless one—the finest garment made then. On that occasion when expensive ointment was poured over His feet, ointment worth three hundred days’ wages for a laborer, He rebuked those who complained that this should have been used to feed the poor. He said, “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always” (Matthew 26:11). There’s a time for the extravagant gesture, as well as a time for practical considerations. There’s a time to paint the walls, fix the roof, feed the poor; but there’s also a time to celebrate. The message here is to go through life as a good steward of all that God chooses to give you.³

 

Thanks for dropping by and may our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus give you and yours a blesses day,

Biblesurfer

1 Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Luke (Vol. 26, pp. 212–213). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

2 Liefeld, W. L. (1984). Luke. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 961). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

3 Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Luke (Vol. 26, p. 213). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.