Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Things Can't Satisfy
Pastor Scott
Sunday, August 15, 2004
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"Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
(Luke 12:15)
Each of us contends daily with the spirit of the age to different degrees. One thing we can count on is that we are being vexed by the supernatural spirit of covetousness in this area that we live. Whether or not you are warring on a daily basis, covetousness is being ignited in your members. The evils that everyone face come from within, for "out of the heart proceedeth..." (Matt. 15:19). It is an internal, not external, problem. In every way we are being affected and fed externally to ignite through seduction the lust of our flesh--through TV commercials, the internet, magazines, malls.
The Lord speaks to us very clearly in Luke 12:15, saying, "Beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." A man's life is not about what he possesses. You are not better if you have more. I have a shirt that says, "He who dies with the most toys, still dies." We brought nothing in, and we will take nothing out. Everything we have here is temporal and meaningless; it will burn up one of these days.
"He that [loves] silver [will] not be satisfied with silver" (Eccles. 5:10). This is very important for us to realize. If you are discontent, if things can't satisfy you, it is because you love things. Being thankful for what you have strikes the note of thankfulness to God in your heart because of His love and care for you. Your heavenly Father knows the necessities and the things that you have need of. He provides them for you, and you are content. "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6).
If there is no contentment or godliness, we are being driven by lust; the spirit of covetousness is dominating our lives. The spirit of covetousness is being promoted in every successful individual's life today. They promote the false doctrine that gain is godliness or that gain places some type of value upon our person. We all deal with that to one degree or another. Some of us take pleasure in the address at which we live. Out in California some people will do anything to get "Beverly Hills" on their return address. It might be 24 people renting a 1970 dilapidated rental, but they take pride in that address.
What do you take pride in? What gives you worth from a material perspective? It may not be an address, but it can be the way you look, bound up with your hair, your makeup or your physique. If all you have is your body, then you will work on that. If you have a few bucks, then you can get something cool to ride around in and hide your body. Every time my dad saw somebody riding around in a new Cadillac, he used to say, "I'll bet you that guy doesn't have any pants." When we need stuff, we are trying to reward, promote, and gratify ourselves, if the spirit of covetousness is behind it.
How do we know whether our acquisitions or pursuits are motivated by covetousness and lust or by God-given natural industry? We are going to live by the sweat of our brow and there will be the necessity of things. When is enough "enough"? When do we say, "I'm going to tear down my barns and build bigger barns"? When that becomes a compulsion and that becomes where our worth is, then we've got a problem. There is nothing wrong with bigger barns. The problem is the compulsion, gratification, satisfaction, and misapplication of worth on things instead of the Lord.