Friday March 14
“Covetousness, which is Idolatry”
Luke 12:13-21
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" 15 And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18 So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
In Luke 12 Jesus makes two “beware” statements or warnings. The first one was specifically to the Pharisees but which also in very much for us today. He said, “Beware of hypocrisy”! Don’t be a pretender, don’t be a hypocrite (vv. 1-12). There is a second beware, and that is to “beware of covetousness”. I believe I remember A.W. Tozer writing about how we live in the age of a humanistic Christianity. Which means it is all about me! What God and others can do for me. Instead of what I can do for Christ and others.
The sad truth is that we have raised a generation of irresponsible, disrespectful people because they think it is all about them. “Have your own way”. “Do it your way”. “What do you want to do”. “Follow your heart”. These are all indications of a humanistic heart and philosophy of life. It appears that today most Christians have also got caught up in this stream of materialism in America. Someone said it so well, “We live in the day of rat race! We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t even like”.
The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus deals with the subject of money, greed, and covetousness. In His first recorded message in Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Do you want to know where your heart really is? Look in your check book, look in your credit card statements. See what you spend your money and time on, who and what you give your money to.
Jesus basically spends the rest of this chapter dealing with the subject of covetousness and how to avoid this sin of idolatry that has destroyed so many families and lives. First, we need to realize that this sin of covetousness is something that comes from within the heart. Notice what Jesus said this certain rich man did. “He thought within himself…”. He didn’t get his friends and neighbors around him and get upon a soap box and proclaim publicly to everyone, “Look at me! I have spent my life working very hard and now am a very wealthy man.”
Jesus also said this man was a fool, not because he was rich, but because he didn’t realize the brevity of his life. The very night he that he thought about what he would do with his wealth, he died and left his hard-earned money and wealth to others, who would probably waste it. Solomon spoke about this in Ecclesiastes 2:15-20.
The rich man also revealed his heart by what he said. “He thought within himself, saying…”. You can’t help but notice all the I’s and “My’s”. “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."
It is obvious that his heart was all about himself and what he wanted. This is the essence of humanism and the sin of idolatry! The truth is, it is not about making a living, it is about learning how to live. We shouldn’t wonder why our children are so materialistic, when we teach them that they must get a “good education” so that they can make a good living. And we fail to teach them to live for the eternal.
Colossians 3:1-7 is a great reminder of the importance of living for the eternal things of God: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”
Idolatry is the worship of anything that gets between you and God. May God help us not to be a fool like the rich man in this story.
God bless!
Comments