SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/29/2013 8:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Greed
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Studies in
Proverbs
Message of the
verses: We are going to continue
looking at the subject of “Popular Sins” in Today’s SD by looking at greed.
Let us begin looking at the subject of greed by looking
at a couple of verses from Proverbs: “He
who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will
live (Pr. 15:27 NKJV).” “Sheol and
Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied (Pr.
27:20).”
In his commentary Dr. Wiersbe sites some statistics from
a 1994 Money magazine survey to
indicate how greedy people in the Untied States are and all the statistics go
up from previous surveys. The most
disturbing statistic was one that said that twenty-three percent of people
surveyed said that they would be willing to commit a crime to get $10 million
dollars if they knew that they would not get caught. This goes along with what Paul wrote to
Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:10 “Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but
trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely
and live to regret it bitterly ever after. (The Message) “For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the
faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
(ESV)
I have heard it said that the hardest of the Ten
Commandments to keep is the tenth commandment which says, “"You shall not
covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his
male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that
belongs to your neighbor.’” Paul picks
up on this when he writes the following “For this you know with certainty, that
no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Eph. 5:5).” “Therefore put to death your members which
are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. (Col. 3:5 NKJV).” Paul is saying that covetousness is idolatry
and the reason it is idolatry is “because a covetous heart puts something else
in the place that God rightfully should occupy in our lives.” (Warren Wiersbe) The unfortunate thing in our country today is
the covetousness is applauded and not looked down upon to which is should.
An Arabian proverb says, “Covetousness has for its mother
unlawful desire, for its daughter injustice, and for its friend violence.” The great problem with all of this is that a
person only has so much time to live on this earth and as Paul writes about a
person and says that he brings nothing into this world and cannot take anything
from this world, so why not use your time to do the things that the Lord has
for you to do. “1Ti 6:7 For we have
brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” “Eph. 2:10 For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that
we would walk in them.”
How can we change our society so it understands the ways
of the Lord are the best and only ways to follow? We can change it one person at a time, and
the first thing is to lead a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,
and then to disciple them into the truths of the Word of God.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “If believers today would read John
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, they’d
meet Mr. Hold-the-World, Mr. Save-all, and Mr. Money-Love; they’d discover what
Bunyan thought about Demas, the one time associate of Paul who fell in love
with ‘this present world’ (Co. 4:14; Phile. 24; 2 Timothy 4:10). While it isn’t a sin to be wealthy-Abraham
and David were both wealthy men and yet godly men—it is a sin to want more than
we really need to keep what we ought to give.
Covetousness is like cancer: It
grows secretly and robs us of spiritual health, and the only remedy is to cut
it out.”
We have already looked at wealth in a previous SD and so
all I want to do is to remind us that wealth or material possessions are a gift
of God, and we should thank Him for them and we should use them for the glory
of God and also for the good of others.
The following is a quote from John Wesley who was the founder of the
Methodist Church:
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in
all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to
all the people you can as long as you ever can.”
This is a good prescription for the cure of greed.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I suppose that
most all people have at least, a little bit of greed in them, and so for that
reason this has been a good topic to study.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Seek the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit
to search my heart to see if there is any greed in my life and to seek to
correct it.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 32:1-8
1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is
the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my
sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon
me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said
“I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my
sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray
to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of waters they will
not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the
way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Answer to yesterdays Bible
Question: “Hebrews 1:8)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who said ‘How then can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God’?”
Answer in Tomorrows SD
3/29/2013 9:50 AM
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