John Ecob
“Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s” (Exod.20:15-17).
Covetousness is the last of the Ten Commandments and might be considered by many to be one of the minor sins, not to be compared with the worship of idols, murder or adultry yet the Bible states that
“whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James2:10).
Covetousness is a sin and we are to be “be content with such things as ye have: for He (God) hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb.13:5).
When somebody covets their neighbour’s wife, servants, ox, ass, or anything else, it is sure to lead to other sins; either lying, stealing, adultry, or even murder. Covetousness is the seed plot for every other sin.
God never intended that everybody on the face of the earth should be equal. Jesus said that
“ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good” (Mark 14:7).
Paul instructed the Galatian believers to
“remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do” (Gal. 2:10).
In the political world Communism is the great covetor of other people’s possessions and lands. Communism lies when it claims to support the poor.
Its support of the downtrodden has only one purpose; to change the political system and transfer power to themselves so that they can steal, murder and brutally suppress everybody except the Party Elite who live in luxury.
We have a classical example at the moment in the State of New York where a left-wing Supreme Court Judge has ordered Donald Trump to pay a fine of $350 million plus costs running into many millions. In addition Mr Trump is forbidden from doing business in the State of New York for several years! The charge is that he committed fraud by overstating his assets in order to obtain a loan.
Epoch Times reported:
“In President Trump’s case … not a soul had been damaged by the former president’s estimates, inflated or not. All the loans had been repaid and the banks involved, of course, made money. There were no victims.”
How can anybody be guilty of fraud when nobody has been defrauded?
The left wing, Communists are envious of Trump’s success and covetous of his wealth yet when President, he gave away his stipend and kept only $1 per year. He has donated large amounts of his wealth helping the poor.
But the left wing (Communists) are covetous of his success as a businessman and his successful four years as President of the most powerful nation on earth. They will stop at nothing in order to rob him of his wealth and of his prospects of becoming President again. In court they devise false charges (lies) in order to steal his wealth.
It is normal in our world that there are rich and poor. Each one of us has an allotted place in society. If we are poor we can learn to trust God for our daily needs and if we are rich we can remember that it is God who has given us the wealth to show love and compassion on those who have need.
The concept that everybody should be equally rich is contrary to reality in life. Not everybody has the opportunity to study at University or has the business acumen to make large profits. Those gifts are all God-given.
Robert LeTourneau was an exceedingly rich man. God blessed him with amazing engineering skills enabling him to design modern earthmoving equipment. He recognized that it was God who had enabled him to acquire wealth and the Church he attended supported 1,000 missionaries on the missionfield largely due to his contributions.
God has distributed gifts within the Body of Christ. Some are called to preach. Others to pray and support the Gospel message as it goes out.
When an army goes to war it needs men in the frontline who are skilled to fight but they cannot survive without good logistics. Without a constant supply of ammunition even the best soldiers will have to withdraw or surrender.
Within Christ’s Church every member has an allotted place and part to play. It is likened to a Body; the Body of Christ. Some members of the body are more prominent than others but all are needed.
“The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary” (1Cor.12 21-22).
Paul gave some good advice:
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom.12:6-8).
God has given the Body of Christ the task of getting the Gospel out to the world. Time is running out. The day of the Lord’s coming for His Church is drawing near and “the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).
To spend our life covetously seeking what others have is sin and a recipe for failure. The happiest people are those who live for others. As the chorus goes:
J-O-Y J-O-Y this must surely mean,
Jesus first, Yourself last, and Others in between.
Let us exercise the gifts that God has given us and we will share in rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ.