Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:17, Genesis 3:1-7
Key Verse: You shall not covet...(Exodus 20:17).
Meditation: Satan successfully employed the first temptation to covetousness when he tempted our first parents to partake of that which was forbidden by God. He skillfully planted the desire in Eve’s heart to be like God. Then he *bewitched her to believe that God was withholding something from her that was her “right” to enjoy. Our consumer driven culture provides a convenient “front” for Satan to plant the seeds of discontent in the hearts of even the most sincere Christians. He also used the stratagem of discontent to cause Demas to be a dropout from missionary work. Perhaps the saddest words Paul ever wrote about a former coworker were “. . .Demas, because he loved the world, has deserted me.” John Mark once also left Paul, but only temporarily, but there is no record that Demas ever returned.
The Scriptures teach three progressive stages in the temptation to covetousness, especially as it played itself out in the fall of the first parent of the human race. First, a pleasing thought is suggested to our emotions. At this stage it can be stopped. However, if we choose to entertain the suggestion, we will slip to being subconsciously set up for the third stage, where our human will joins the fantasy and we will act out our thoughts when the first opportunity occurs, or we will make the occasion to act on the decision to take what is not ours.
Thought of the Day: The sign of God’s silent judgment on our surfeited materialistic culture is not only our greed to get more, but the growing inability to enjoy what we already have.
If you are looking for more enlightenment on this topic please visit Proverbs 5. I have studied this chapter and found that it speaks of addictions in a poetic way. Also the book of James deals extensively about temptations, greed and what to do with these temptations.
*God had created us(humans) perfectly, {Genesis 1:26}. God gave us control of the animals and the plants. {Genesis 1:30.} But even in paradise we were not happy.
Part of our economic depression is due to this desire to have more. The whole industry of the Credit Card is devoted with accumulating.
Key Verse: You shall not covet...(Exodus 20:17).
Meditation: Satan successfully employed the first temptation to covetousness when he tempted our first parents to partake of that which was forbidden by God. He skillfully planted the desire in Eve’s heart to be like God. Then he *bewitched her to believe that God was withholding something from her that was her “right” to enjoy. Our consumer driven culture provides a convenient “front” for Satan to plant the seeds of discontent in the hearts of even the most sincere Christians. He also used the stratagem of discontent to cause Demas to be a dropout from missionary work. Perhaps the saddest words Paul ever wrote about a former coworker were “. . .Demas, because he loved the world, has deserted me.” John Mark once also left Paul, but only temporarily, but there is no record that Demas ever returned.
The Scriptures teach three progressive stages in the temptation to covetousness, especially as it played itself out in the fall of the first parent of the human race. First, a pleasing thought is suggested to our emotions. At this stage it can be stopped. However, if we choose to entertain the suggestion, we will slip to being subconsciously set up for the third stage, where our human will joins the fantasy and we will act out our thoughts when the first opportunity occurs, or we will make the occasion to act on the decision to take what is not ours.
Thought of the Day: The sign of God’s silent judgment on our surfeited materialistic culture is not only our greed to get more, but the growing inability to enjoy what we already have.
If you are looking for more enlightenment on this topic please visit Proverbs 5. I have studied this chapter and found that it speaks of addictions in a poetic way. Also the book of James deals extensively about temptations, greed and what to do with these temptations.
*God had created us(humans) perfectly, {Genesis 1:26}. God gave us control of the animals and the plants. {Genesis 1:30.} But even in paradise we were not happy.
Part of our economic depression is due to this desire to have more. The whole industry of the Credit Card is devoted with accumulating.
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