So, I see something my neighbor has and suddenly I want one of my very own. I have a house full of things that I obtained, quite legally, because I saw someone who had one. "Got to have me one of them," I say to myself. This kind of thinking drives our free market economy. Our cars are financed for five years or so, even though we probably will trade them in every three years on average. Our homes are financed for 30 years even though we move or refinance every seven (according to realtor information). We had a garage sale recently and the big money items were two slightly used BBQ pits because I had replaced them with a new grill and a new smoker. Judging from economic data, I'm not alone.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house," the Ninth Commandment tells us. Yet we covet daily. As noted earlier, it is what drives our economy. If we don't covet on our own, then society will put things in front of us that will cause us to covet. I mean really, advertisements give us the new version of what I'm holding that is one-year-old may move my conditioned mind to replace that antique.
Am I condemning free market economies? No, not at all. Am I condemning people who have obtained a certain level of wealth. Absolutely not. A poor person can covet just as well as the middle income American in his 3/2/2 home with his 1.8 children and a wife. And the average American can covet just as well as a man who has everything, like a very wealthy man. It is a sin that blankets humanity and has since the fall of man. What caused the fall? Satan created a certain desire for us to be "like God" (we coveted our own Creator).
Solution? "Not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation to be content." (Philippians 4) How do I obtain this kind of contentment? Through our savior, Jesus Christ. We turn to Christ and place our true needs in his hands - both our physical and spiritual needs. Our prayer is simple, "Christ, help me to be content through my faith in you." Amen.
Hope Men's Ministry
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