RESTORING THE JOY
Part 4: Developing an attitude of gratitude
Bob James of Paint Rock, Texas, had a problem with stinging ants in his yard. He laid a small portion of poison around their mound. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony. Bob returned later to see how well the poison was working. Hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their mound. Then he noticed a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving the opposite way away from the mound.
Some smaller, non-stinging ants had found this “food” and were stealing it from their ant neighbors. Thinking they were getting the other ants’ treasure, they unwittingly poisoned themselves.
When we see some people with more or better than we have, we must beware. The hunger to beg, borrow, or steal our way into what is theirs may poison us spiritually, and destroy our joy.
(Illustration by Bob James of Paint Rock, Texas. Quoted in sermon Watch What You Want, by David Holwick. Sermon Central)
Open your Bibles this morning and turn with me please to Exodus, chapter 20 and verse 17. ...
- Read Exodus 20:17
For the past several weeks, we have been looking at ways to restore the joy that Jesus promised to bring into the hearts and lives of those who follow Him. Last week we saw one of the items that will rob us of our joy, “Wrong Priorities.” Today we see another item that will poison our spiritual lives and rob us of the joy God promised, covetousness.
If you remember, after God brought the Israelites out of bondage, after He gave them their freedom, He promised to carry them into a better land. He said, “I will carry you into a land flowing with milk & honey. In that land you will live in houses and subdivisions you didn’t build. In that land, you will enjoy vineyards you never tended and harvest crops you never planted.
Sounds like a good deal to me. To move into houses with no mortgage payments. To enjoy yards you didn’t sod.
God said, “I’m going to give you all of this. But here’s the catch, you will never enjoy this land, you will never know joy, even with all of this stuff I give you, if your heart is wrong. So God gave His people the 10 Commandments to make sure His people guarded their hearts and enjoyed all He gave His children.
After giving the other 9 commandments, God said, “Listen, not only don’t I want you to do these things, I don’t even want you to covet what other people have. It will lead you into sin, it will destroy Our fellowship, and it rob you of your joy.
My friends, covetousness will steal your joy. The desire to have what another person has will steal your joy in a way nothing else will.
Have you ever seen a child, a toddler, sitting in the middle of the floor, with toys scattered all around Him? Have you ever seen that child playing happily, until another child walks by carrying a toy? All of sudden, what he has isn’t enough, it isn’t good enough. He’ll often reach toward the other child’s toy, say “Mine,” and then begin crying because the other child has something he doesn’t.
My friend, what is true with children is also true with adults. Desiring what another person has, what she owns, will destroy your joy. That’s why God warns in verse 17, “Do not covet.”
Oh my friend, coveting will destroy your contentedness. It will destroy your peace and rob you of your joy.
Do not covet. Do not covet:
1. A person’s possessions - It is amazing how many things other people have, that we want for ourselves. We see them with anew car and we want that. We see them with a new house and we want that. We see them with a boat, or large screen TV, or whatever, and we want what they have. When we begin that, all of a sudden the TV we have and were grateful for when we got it, isn’t good enough anymore. The joy is taken out of what we have. ...
> Ecclesiastes 5:10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
2. A person’s People - God said, “Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife.” It is amazing the people in other people’s lives, we covet. How often do you desire the children another family has, instead of your own? How often do you desire the spouse someone else has, instead of your own? How often do you desire the parents or the family another person has, instead of your own?
My friend, when you begin coveting it says, “God, what you’ve given me isn’t good enough.” When you covet you say, “God, I know better than you do, what kind of family and people I need around me.” My friend, God has placed those people around you for a reason.
3. Position - Often, we will covet the position another person has. Did you ever think that you don’t know the pressures or pain that other person experiences because of her position? Did you ever think that you might not know all of the struggles that go with that position?
4. Spirituality - A Christian of years ago put it this way, “Many experience displeasure when they see others in possession of spiritual goods. They feel sensibly hurt because others surpass them on this road, and they resent it when others are praised.”
Does that describe you? Do you resent it when you see others growing spiritually and when you see so little growth in your own life? Oh my friend, that will rob you of your joy.
My friend, God says, “Don’t covet what other people have. Don’t develop a “Poor me” attitude. Don’t allow that bitterness to sour your heart.
So what is the cure for this malady? How do we overcome this sin that so easily poisons our lives? My friend, I believe there are 4 practical ingredients in the antidote for this poison.
I. THE CURE FOR COVETOUSNESS
1. Develop a close relationship with Jesus.
- John 4:13-14
Sir, Mam, young person, only Jesus can give you the peace, the joy, the contentedness you are looking for. Jesus says, “Fill yourself up with Me, and you’ll never be thirsty again.” ...
2. Pray about desires you have -
- Philippians 4:6-7
3. Give thanks for everything God has given you.
- Philippians 4:6
“With thanksgiving.” Turn to the person next to you. If it’s you’re spouse say, “I’m glad you married me...” If it’s your child say, “I’, glad God gave me you ...” ... If you don’t know the person say, “I’m glad you’re sitting there because if you weren’t, such & such might have sat there.”
Give thanks for the people in your life.
4. Think about the great things God has given you.
- Philippians 4:8
*** I am grateful for the many blessings God has given me.
Gladys - This past week we celebrated 10 years of marriage.
The people in this church.
The material blessings we have.
The protection God has given us.
Yesterday, several churches in our community, helped move donated furniture into the houses Deltona is letting the New Orleans evacuees stay in.
Chris & I went and picked up a love seat & chair from an older lady in the community. When we first met, I noticed that she spoke with a heavy accent. When we went in her house I noticed a plague hanging on her wall and I thought it looked like it was in German, so I asked her. She told me that it was German and that she was from Germany.
After we loaded up the items she had donated, she told us to tell the lady we were carrying the stuff to that she knew what it was like to be a refugee. I got to thinking about her being from Germany and so I asked her about it. She said, “My father was in the German military from the time the war started. He was killed three weeks before it ended. As the war was drawing to a close, the Russians were on one side of our town, and our SS troops were on the other. We wanted to leave before the Russians got there, so we packed our suitcases and had them ready to go in our house. On the day were decided to leave, my mother and I returned to our house to get our backs. We found an SS solider posted at our door. He asked what we wanted and we told him we had come to get our suitcases. He said, ‘You’re going to need them where you’re going.’ My mother and I were forced to flee with nothing.
We went through the woods to the next town, with nothing but the clothes on our back. We helped unload a munitions train and then we and the other fleeing refugees got on. The train took us to Belgium. There, the engine unhooked and left all of us on a siding with no food, and no water. We were there for 3 days before the Red Cross came. They led us all to small country farms where we worked each day for our room and board.
My brother was captured by the Russians and was sent to a prison camp. We didn’t know what had happened to him until he showed up seven years later.” Today that lady, who has been through so much, is helping other refugees.
My friend, when times are hard, when the joy is gone, work on your attitude of gratitude. Remember the many things God has given you. Remember the closet full of clothes. Remember the table covered with food. Remember the family you still have. Remember the freedom and blessings God has given us in this country. “Count
