And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,[a] for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke
Little
children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
(1 John
The petition addressed to Christ, in this paragraph from which our text is selected, has been constantly made to Him in subsequent ages. Men are always demanding that He should divide the inheritance more equally. But our Lord did not come to adjust human relationships by the exercise of His autocratic will. He deals rather with the overreaching and grasping materialism which leads the rich to withhold, and the discontent which compels the poor to murmur. He saw in the demand of the imploring a tendency to the same covetousness which prompted the other brother to withhold the portion of the inheritance, which was not justly his.
Our Lord
announced the far reaching truth that life does not consist in what we possess,
but in what we are. We are rich, not in proportion to the amount standing to
our credit in the bank, or to the acreage of our inheritance, but to the
purity, strength, and generosity of our nature. When we lay up treasure for
ourselves, we become paupers in God's universe. The only way of dealing with
covetousness, which makes an idol of money or possessions, is to regard our
property only as gifts entrusted to us for the benefit of others. Let us kill the
spirit of greed, which is so strong within us all, by sowing the acreage of our
life as indicated in 2 Corinthians 9:1-15.
Sensual
appetite is an idol with many (Philippians
PRAYER
Our Father
in heaven, the portion of our inheritance, give us grace, we pray You, never to
aim at or desire anything out of You. What we can enjoy in You, give us
according to Your will; what we cannot, deny us. In Jesus' name I pray it, AMEN.
God's Daily Promise
Promise #284:
I am happy to treat you as My child, and I hope you will call Me
Father.
Jeremiah 3:19 (WEB)
“But I said, ‘How I would
put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land,
a goodly heritage of the
armies of the nations!’ and I said,
‘You shall call me “My
Father,” and shall not turn away from following me.’
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