Life Capsule for Today August 8, 2023
Theme: Beware of Coveteousness (3)
Memory Verse: Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Topic: Jesus’ Defination of Covetousness
Today’s Reading: Luk 12:13 -21
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Words of the Ministry:
We would be seeing a greater light on the matter of covetousness today. We saw the biblical example of covetousness and one of the things we said was that a covetous person would always want what belongs to others. Today from our reading, we would be seeing two other definitions as Jesus has raised the bar just as he did concerning anger which is same as murder in the new testament and lust which is as evil as adultery.
The first part of the reading is a dialog between Jesus and one of his listeners, he wanted Jesus to ask his brother to give him his inheritance which was rightfully his, Jesus answering said beware of covetousness, a man’s life doesn’t consist of his possession. In other words, the measure of our successes and achievements should not be tied to the amount of earthly riches that we have. Jesus rebuked him because of his heart, the man was not satisfied with he had, he felt empty because he couldn’t get that possession, such a man would find it difficult to part with goods and lay treasure in heaven. Although based on their community tradition, it was his right but as far as his heart was concerned, he was not satisfied with Christ, he felt empty without the benefits from his customs and traditions. Check within yourself, how do you react when someone takes your portion of goods, food or money. That outburst in itself is because you are not satisfied with Christ.
Then Jesus followed up with a parable, this time, the man who sowed his fruit reaped a large harvest, he was excited and said in his heart that he would pull down the old barn, raise up another and feed sumptuously. Little did he know that God was to take his life that night and the parable ended with a question, whose shall those things be and Jesus said so is everyone that is not rich towards God. Again, we see something deeper than yesterday, in our earlier lessons we tied covetousness to things owned by others, today we have seen the first example of things owned by you taken by another and this parable talks about things owned by you beyond your need that you choose not to share.
Many today find it difficult to share their wealth with others, the mentality that you worked for it and you and only your family would enjoy it is covetousness, the scripture teaches that we must love our neighbors as ourselves. If it is good for your children to eat, dress well, go to school and have fun, don’t you think you should make a little provision for the saints who are not as comfortable as you are, when all you think about is yours only, you are covetous. When what you don’t really need which is with others become a matter to you, you are covetous. We must learn to live according to our needs, Christ is our life.
Bible in one year: Isiah 38-42
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