Don’t covet!

“I SAW…THE SPOILS…I COVETED THEM AND TOOK THEM.” JOSHUA 7:21 NKJV

Have you ever looked at a glossy home-decorating magazine and found that the home you were thankful for an hour ago, now seems junky? Or watched a slick TV ad for a new automobile, and suddenly the car in your driveway seems like a jalopy? God expects you to have goals and to provide for your family, but be careful about coveting things so much that you become obsessed with how to get them.

When Israel went to war with Jericho, God said everything in the city was to be destroyed; that His anger was going to fall on the Canaanites because of their sin. But later when Israel stormed the small town of Ai, the inhabitants defeated them. Joshua asked God why they’d lost the battle, and God said it was because there was sin in the Israelite camp. When Joshua investigated, Achan, one of his soldiers, confessed: “When I saw…the spoils…I coveted them and took them.” When he tried to conceal his sin by burying the stolen goods under his tent, it cost him his life and the lives of his family.

When you covet, you question God’s willingness and His ability to provide for you. Instead, when you find yourself wanting something, pray about it and trust God to give it to you – if it’s His will! In the meantime be grateful for the blessings He’s already given you. Watchman Nee wrote, “I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord, and has not been satisfied himself.” The Bible says, “God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything – enough to give to every good work” (2 Co 9:8 NCV).

So don’t covet!