February 20

Written by Bill Grandi on February 20th, 2020

My title for this devotion is Have vs Don’t Have.

Proverbs 30:15 says, “The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, ‘Enough’: Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, ‘Enough.’ “

I’d like to add a fifth if I may. I’m not trying to add to the Word but just add a thought. And maybe it is just a thought that would serve as a blanket to the other four. The word/thought?

GREED

Envy wants to have what someone else possesses. Jealousy wants to possess what it already has. Greed is the desire for more. Greed is always longing, craving, wanting, striving for more. I don’t have it; I want it.

It is perfectly illustrated in the parable Jesus told in Luke 12:17-21 about the man who had it all but wanted to build bigger barns and then said, “Eat, drink and be merry.” His greed led him to crave more, missing out on eternal things. Greed does that. It loses sight of what a person has, what God has blessed him/her with. Instead, it focuses on what it doesn’t have and wants it. “Gotta have it” would be the motto.

Followers of Jesus are not exempt. I’m not exempt. The desire for more seems to run though our veins. Jealousy and envy are listed in the sins of the flesh in Galatians 5.  I’m guessing greed could be also. Peter says false teachers will exploit us because of their greed (2 Peter 2:3).  Paul says he did not come to the Thessalonians with words of flattery nor with a pretext for greed (I Thess.2:5).

Greed is a subtle trap. Something catches our eye and it won’t let go. Then we just gotta have it. Meanwhile, we forget what we already have, what we have already been blessed with. It is no longer enough.

“Father, please keep my heart pure; my eyes focused on You; my wants/desires submitted to you. Please don’t let me allow greed to put its tentacles in me.”

 

4 Comments so far ↓

  1. Ryan S. says:

    Greed is a tough topic to address.
    The consuming nature of it I think is at the heart of the issue. When our focus is turned away from God for the purposes of acquiring more, the trap has been set. When we become ensnared and find it “impossible” to return. We have become victim to our own greed.

    • Bill Grandi says:

      it is tough Ryan. I suspect because it is something we all face in some way. And the trap is real for sure.

  2. Greed can be such a trap for us. Focusing on our blessings and being grateful to God in all things certainly helps to curb this very human impulse.
    Blessings, Bill!