He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.
- Proverbs 21:26
Here the Lord is talking about two peoples; the slothful and the righteous.
The slothful coveteth greedily, but his lazy nature hold's him back from honestly achieving what he covets: which is why he covets all day long.
Most times, we don't even realise we are coveting. We just look at a picture of something or a car or house or house or body and start to want it. From there, if we let the seed of lust sow, we want it more, then we want it badly, then we can't live without it. Then, we do what needs to be done to get it!
Of the ten commandments, the one God finishes with deals with this sin and is very powerful. It is the pointy arrow that hits us all in the area of lust; thou shalt not covet.
Satan is like the slothful coveter, lusting after and trying to take a kingdom built by someone else. This image is who we become like when we covet.
Instead of coveting, we should teach ourselves to give more.
The Bible is a book filled with giving from the garden in Genesis to the end of Revelation.
In the beginning, God gave a garden, a beautiful environment, and a world, to humanity. At the completion in Revelation, He finishes with a reminder to us that He also gave His only begotten son. In 22:17, the Lord says, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
The Lord intimates that a part of righteousness is having a giving nature, where we don't count the cost. Jesus suggests we do count the cost in building the kingdom within, but not when it comes to giving. He doesn't want to see meanness in our charity. He doesn't want us to turn out like the coveting slothful, but being covetous over our own pennies. We don't want to be known as penny-pinchers while others are going hungry or in need of clothes, or short of cash to pay urgent bills.
We can become quite fearful of giving, thinking we may not get that money back. God has given us much, but we are too scared to pass some of it on.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days."
This verse hints that we shouldn't be mean in our giving. The Lord says to cast our bread upon the waters, which sounds quite bizarre. If we did that literally, do we think it would come back to us after many days, or perish or be eaten by fish?
He means us not to be afraid to cast it wide and far away if necessary.
This casting away is what we are frightened to do! The Lord gives us the water of life freely, yet we find it hard to part with a few dollars. If anything sounds odd, that does. We get eternal life for free but are too fearful of giving a little money. God is asking us the give as freely as He gave to us. He doesn't want us to be foolish, but not mean either.
Also, Matthew 6:26 shames us when we think greedily. He says, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" This comes down to trust in Him. We lack trust when we become mean.
God is no person's debtor. 2 Corinthians 9:7, says, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
God wants us to be more than givers; He wants us to be 'cheerful' givers like He is, as THAT is righteous!
Today’s prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the sense of giving and the great feeling that comes from it. Please help me to be a cheerful giver, and trust that, whether the money I give comes back to me or not, it has done its purpose. Please help me not to be covetous over anything that only lasts until this world finishes.
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