What If They’re Wrong Series Exodus 20:17 "How To Be Happy With What You Have"
Today we’re looking at the last of the Ten Commandments "You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."
• A while ago there was a survey of teenage girls, asking them what their favorite pastime was. By and large, their favorite thing to do was shop. In fact, 93% of the teenage girls surveyed said that shopping was their #1 recreational activity. Not dating, not talking on phone, or chatting on the computer; none of those other "typical" things we expect a teenage girl to do. It was shopping.
Scary, isn’t it?
I don’t bring this up to single out teenage girls - I believe it is indicative of our culture.
It just shows us how materialistic our world is.
Our culture is constantly telling us a big lie: "More will satisfy."
More of whatever it is we desire, whatever we set our hearts on - more things, more pleasure, more respect, more leisure time, more quality time with our loved ones ...you name it.
If we can just get more of it, then we will be satisfied.
We’re subjected to messages that are reinforcing this lie all the time.
We’re constantly being told – especially this time of year - that "more" will satisfy us.
That’s what the world says: More will satisfy.
Of course, God’s advice is different.
He says, "Don’t let goods become your god.
Don’t let your material desires determine your happiness in life."
We’re urged, in the Bible, not to define our self-worth, or find our life’s fulfillment in the things we have or don’t have, whether they are concrete or intangible things.
What exactly does it mean to "covet"?
The dictionary says that "covet" means "to desire something eagerly, especially something belonging to another person."
But the Bible goes further in its definition.
"Covet" in the Bible signifies "an insatiable desire of getting the world; to desire more than enough."
It can also mean "an inordinate love of the world."
A person who covets can love the things of the world so much that he or she will do anything to get them and everything to keep from losing them.
At the heart of this commandment lies a prohibition against greed.
This morning I want to share with you five signs of a covetous person, then I want to share with you three guidelines you can follow to overcome covetousness.
I. Five Signs of a Covetous Person
A. A person is covetous when all he thinks about is his stuff.
What he has isn’t enough. He’s totally absorbed with getting more, whether it’s more money, more stuff, more power, more influence. His mind is almost never on godly things, and when that occasional "godly" thought pops into his mind, the focus of that thought is "what can I get out of it."
B. A person is covetous when all he talks about is his stuff.
Covetous people spend most of their time talking about themselves, their stuff, and how they are going to get this thing and that thing. Very seldom do you hear them talking about God. If you try to move the conversation to godly things, it almost always goes back to where it started: talking about them and their stuff.
C. A person is covetous when he is unwilling to get rid of his stuff.
There’s a story in the Bible about a young man who was rich. He asked Jesus how to get eternal life and Jesus told him to obey the Ten Commandments. This young man told Jesus that he had followed all those since he was a small child. So, Jesus said, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 18:22) This young man went away sad, because he was very wealthy. A covetous person would rather part with Jesus than part with his stuff.
D. A person is covetous when he takes more pains for getting ahead than for getting heaven.
He’ll do anything and everything to get ahead in his position on earth. He’ll lose sleep, work long hours, wine and dine the boss. But he will do nothing to assure his position in heaven.
E. A person is covetous when he overloads himself with worldly business.
He has too many irons in the fire. In this sense he’s a pluralist. He takes so much business on himself, that he cannot find time to serve God. He’ll make time to work at home but won’t make time to pray or read the Bible, or use his spiritual gift to build the kingdom of God.
These are just five of the signs of a covetous person.
There are probably countless more.
But when we examine this commandment we really need to focus on the opposite of coveting - contentment.
The Apostle Paul said, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation..." (Philippians 4:12)
You see, to overcome covetousness, we need to learn to be content in life.
And to do that we need to follow some guidelines we can find in the Bible.
II. Three Guidelines for Contentment
A. One guideline for contentment is this: Don’t Worry, Be Happy!"
There was a song by that title made popular several years ago.
The fellow who performed the song would hum a little tune then say, "Don’t worry, Be happy!"
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
But it’s really a pretty profound biblical principle.
In the Book of Matthew, Jesus was teaching the people in what we now call "The Sermon on the Mount" and he was addressing the issue of "stuff."
In this sermon he says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
And he says, "No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Then He says, Don’t worry, Be happy!"
Listen to what he says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:19-33)
• Years ago, a college professor assigned a paper in which his students were asked to respond to the question, "If you had only five days to live, how would you spend those five days? And with whom?" The responses were interesting. Some wrote that they would say, "I’m sorry," or "I love you" to certain people. Others wrote that they would "walk on the beach and watch a sunrise." Every student got paper back with this note written on it: "Why don’t you do these things today?"
The point is clear: we worry too much.
"If I can just work a few more hours or if I can get a part-time job or if my wife goes to work we’ll be able to get out of debt or we’ll be able to buy this or that or we’ll be able to do this or that. Then we’ll be happy."
The truth is that happiness is a choice.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have or how much you have.
If you choose to be happy you’ll be happy.
Take time to count your blessings.
If you recognize that God is in control, the choice is easy - you’ll choose to be happy.
B. Another guideline for contentment is to learn to discern between needs and wants.
The Apostle Paul was the mentor to a young preacher named Timothy.
Listen to some advice he gave him, "...we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."
(1 Timothy 6:6-11)
Back in 1996, a Business Week poll listed some common inventions Americans said they couldn’t live without: (-- Parade (12/29/96 Leadership, "To Verify.")
Automobile--6%
Light bulb--54%
Telephone--42%
Television--22%
Aspirin--19%
Microwave oven--13%
Blow-dryer--7.8%
Personal computer--7.6%
I doubt if these percentages have changed all that much in 4 years - maybe the personal computer percentage has gone up.
The point is that it’s easy for us to get our wants confused with our needs.
Paul insisted that food and clothing were enough to provide contentment, but even then he didn’t advise Timothy to go after them.
Paul was convinced that God would take care of all of those physical needs.
But look what he told him to pursue: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
What we need more than anything in life is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
That’s really what Paul was telling Timothy - pursue a more intimate relationship with Jesus.
We waste our lives away pursuing things that don’t have an ounce of eternal significance.
If we’re going to be content in life, we need to remind ourselves once in while - and our children, too - that there is a huge difference between our needs and our wants.
C. A third guideline for contentment is to concentrate on giving rather than receiving.
Now, you might think that it’s easy to concentrate on giving during the Christmas season since that seems to be what Christmas has been reduced to.
But, look around the next time you go Christmas shopping.
Look at how many people are just utterly stressed out.
Fact is that this is one of the most stressful times of year.
Why is that?
Could it be that we really don’t enjoy giving?
Maybe we can say we enjoy the giving but don’t enjoy the getting so we can give!
But that might be stretching the truth a little.
Some people love to give.
Some people have been blessed with the gift of giving.
For them, this is one glorious time of year.
But, for most of us, it’s a pain in the neck.
You see, most of the time we give with the wrong motive.
The main reason most people give is to get something in return.
It might not even be a tangible something in return.
Jesus addressed this issue once when he was talking to the Pharisees.
He said, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness." (Luke 11:39)
What he meant was that they did everything for show.
They did everything to receive benefits for themselves.
Here was a group of men who were supposed to be taking care of the poor and giving the deep truths of God to the common people, but they weren’t content unless they were getting all the attention.
Another time Jesus was invited to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee.
He noticed that all the guests were trying to sit in the places of honor and prominence.
He said that’s really not a very smart thing to do because you’ll look really stupid if someone more distinguished than you comes along and you’re as ked to move out of his seat.
He said that if you exalt yourself you’ll be humbled.
He went on to say something even more profound and relevant for us today.
He said, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:1-14)
What was he saying?
Take the focus off of you and realize that there are people out there that are less fortunate than you are.
Conclusion
You see, when we covet we get wrapped up in the "I don’t have enough" scam and we lose sight of the fact that there are people out there who have little or nothing.
We worry ourselves to the point of serious ulcers because we just don’t think we have enough.
We convince ourselves that all of the minutia we collect are needs when the fact is we could probably do without most of it.
We get so busy thinking about us that we don’t have much time to think about too many others.
But, the less we think like the selfish, self-centered people we are, the more we will begin to think like Jesus.
The more we will learn to see things from His point of view, rather than from ours.
Paul admonished Timothy with these words, "godliness with contentment is great gain."
Covetousness or contentment: It’s your choice!
