Memory Text: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15, NKJV).
Covetousness is strongly desiring what does not belong to you. God considers it a big enough problem to merit proscription in the moral law He wrote with His own finger, the Ten Commandments:
“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 anything that is thy neighbor’s” (Exod. 20:17).
There will not be any covetous people in the kingdom of heaven: “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10).
Covetousness was in a sense the original sin that manifested in the mind of Lucifer. We have all read the passage in Isaiah in which the prophet sees Lucifer declaring his desire to be like the Most High:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! You are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”
But why did Lucifer want to be equal with God when he was a created being? Ellen White tells us that it is because he coveted the worship given to God and Christ:
“Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35.
Lucifer’s desire to be elevated to the position of God stemmed from his strong desire, his covetousness, of the worship due to God alone.
Covetous is closely related to the sin of idolatry, because when you really, really want something, that thing tends to become an idol. This is what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 5:5: “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” A person who covets makes an idol of the thing he covets, becoming an idolater. Paul makes the same point in Colossians 3:5, noting that the greedy have made an idol of money: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
The greedy have made an idol of money, the lustful have made an idol of sex, etc. We could go on down the line: anything that we want really, really badly can become for us an idol, something we effectively worship more highly than God, something the love for which is edging God out of our affections.
It is crucial to note that covetousness is a sin of the mind, the thoughts. Thoughts lead to actions, and wrong thoughts lead to wrong actions. If you reject covetousness when you see it arising in your mind and thoughts, you can avoid the active sins that follow in its wake. If you reject covetousness, then you do not begin planning to steal someone else’s property, and you do not actually steal it.
If David had realized he was coveting another man’s wife, he could have stopped himself from going through with adultery. But, as often happens when covetousness is involved, David did not stop at coveting. Coveting led to adultery, adultery led to murder, and David’s life was terribly blighted, with the death of several of his children, a rebellion, and a bloody civil war.
And why? What was so great about Bathsheba? What did she have that none of David’s wives possessed? Objectively, nothing. But our flesh has a way of creating desires in us that have no substance or reality. Have you ever had a girlfriend or boyfriend that you wanted so desperately, and then you see that person maybe 5, 10, or twenty years later, and you think to yourself, “what was I thinking? What did I see in that person?” Most of what we covet so badly eventually falls into that category.
The saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” works in reverse, too: One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. Much of what we covet in this life, and spend so much time working for, collecting, storing, and hauling around, is just junk to someone else. When we die, our children will be burdened by our hoarding, spending time away from their families sorting through our “precious possessions” and disposing of them.
The way to avoid covetousness is to be content with what you have, to be content with your own house, car, and wife: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” 1 Tim. 6:6-7.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Mat. 6:19-21.