Content Or Covetous?

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                            " . . . Take heed, and beware of covetousness."  Luke  12:15

     A man is either content or covetous - he cannot be both!  One of the most prominent but least talked about sins of Christians is that of discontent!  Such dissatisfaction is accompanied by an inordinate desire for things which God in His wisdom and grace has not seen fit to grant.  Many therefore feed on the husks of carnal desire, with a resulting lifetime of frustration, who could be happily feasting at the King's table of satisfaction.

     In Luke 12 our Lord had been discussing some very important spiritual matters, yet one of the multitude was so greedy of gain and so desirous of worldly "things" that he interrupted Jesus' discourse on matters of eternal import so that he might ask Him to settle a dispute about money!  This occasioned Jesus' stern rebuke which is still so much needed today:  "Beware of covetousness!"  Worldly goods can never satisfy the soul; in fact, they are often the devil's snare by which he drags men down to destruction with their carnal cravings still ungratified.  "A round world can never fill a triangular-shaped heart!"

     A Quaker once put a sign up on a vacant piece of ground next to his house, which read,  "I will give this lot to anyone who is really satisfied."  A wealthy farmer riding by hastened to claim this property.  He reasoned with himself,  "I may as well have it as anyone else; and as I am rich and have all I need, I should be well able to qualify."  When he asked for the lot the aged Quaker said,  "And is thee really satisfied?"  "I surely am!"  was the reply.  "I have all I need, and am well content."  "Friend," said the other,  "if thee is satisfied, what does thee want with my lot?"  The question revealed the true covetousness that was hidden in the rich man's heart.

     Let your walk be "without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have"  (Hebrews  13:5).

"Bread For Each Day"

Deceit

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

        "They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit." 
                                                                                                                             Job  15:35

     During the first World War, I was practicing medicine.  Many young men were volunteering for service in the Army.  Among them was one fellow, the son of a preacher, who, lured by the prospects of the thrill of combat, tried to enlist.  However, when examined for service he was rejected because he was ten pounds underweight.  He sought my advice as to how he might gain ten pounds, but it was all to no avail.  The best he could do was gain five pounds.  A few weeks later I heard he had been accepted into service.  When I first saw him I enquired how he had manged to put on extra pounds, and he slyly replied,  "Just before I went in for my examination, I ate five pounds of BANANAS, and just made it."  He was later killed in action.

     Job describes those who by deceit seek to gain their ends, but later must eat the bitter fruits.  Job said of such,  "He wandereth abroad for bread, saying,  Where is it?"   (Job  15:23).  Of all such Solomon said,  "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel."  (Proverbs  20:17).

     One may fool men, even the army physicians, but no such tactics can fool God.  He weighs with a scale having x-rays attached and immediately recognizes the fraud of a man trying to make himself fit for God by his own efforts.  God says of every sinner,  "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting" (Daniel  5:27).  The bananas of morality, good works, religion, and human righteousness cannot avail.  Only as a sinner accepts Christ into his heart can he (in Christ) meet the standards of God's holiness.  You cannot deceive God - you are only deceiving yourself.

"Bread For Each Day"