2010 July 8 | Encourage Me Too

ARE YOU GIVING TO GOD FOR THE RIGHT REASONS?

July 8th, 2010 |

Author: gail

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Beware Of What You Want

July 7, 2010


Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Exodus 20:1-17

You shall not covet. —Exodus 20:17

Sometimes I wonder why God didn’t list the Ten Commandments in reverse order, since the 10th commandment correlates to the first sin—desire. Eve’s sin wasn’t simply her desire for a piece of fruit; it was the desire for knowledge that Satan told her would make her like God (Gen. 3:5). Eve’s covetousness caused her to violate both the first and tenth commands that God later gave to Moses.

When we don’t covet, we pretty much eliminate our reasons to disobey the other commands. Wanting what isn’t ours causes us to lie, steal, commit adultery, murder, and refuse to honor our parents. We refuse to rest because we can’t get what we want in 6 days of work. We misuse God’s name when we use it to justify something that we want to do. We make gods out of wealth and relationships because we don’t want to have to put all our trust in God.

I have a hard time coming up with sins that don’t involve some form of covetousness. Yet because it’s the last in the list, we tend to think of it as being the least important. But it’s not. When we stop sin while it is still in our hearts and heads, we avoid making others the victim of our sin, and we avoid many of the serious consequences of sin. —Julie Ackerman Link

When you covet someone else’s things,
Thinking that they’re better than your own,
Just remember that God’s gifts to you
Were designed for you and you alone. —Hess

Contentment is realizing that God has already given me all I need.

From Gail:

Remember, prosperity even for Americans only has been around since 1950. It has always been a hand to mouth existence since the beginning of time except for a select few. Don’t fall for the trap some in the Evangelical community set for you just to make themselves rich from huge salaries they bless themselves with. God would rather have you give a small amount cheerfully than a large amount uncheerfully just to gain wealth.

I had a girlfriend once who never gave anything to God because the Church preached that you must give 10%, which is Old Testament Law meant for the Jews in that despensation. She was only making $400/month, and $40 was a lot of money to her. I told her about Paul’s teaching of giving cheerfully in II Corinthians 9:7.

⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I asked her how much could she give cheerfully? Could she give $10 a month cheerfully, and she said she could. The next Sunday she put $10 in the offering plate, and when she went to work on Monday, out of the “clear blue sky” her boss started to schedule her for 40 hours per week.