Be Careful How You Walk – The Kingdom Curriculum XIV (3)

Be Careful How You Walk

“You shall not covet.” Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

And He said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

Are You Walking in the Way of Fools?

The world is determined that we should indulge the sin of covetousness. It’s no big deal, a harmless and perhaps even necessary pastime. Advertisers make their living, at least in part, by playing on people’s natural bent to covetousness. The proliferation of every imaginable gewgaw, every sort of possession, and every conceivable fun time creates a cultural context that says you can never have too much of a good thing. And we’re all too willing to believe that the good life consists of an abundance of good things.

Our tendency to measure success in life in terms of material things breeds a lifestyle of covetousness that is laid down in the schools of the land, reinforced by peer pressure, and taken up as the normal way of living. But covetousness is the way of fools (Lk. 12:20), of those who seek in perishable things what only God can provide–lasting joy, peace, happiness, and purpose in life. Whenever we begin to sense that covetousness is trying to establish a beachhead in our souls, we need to repeat the words of the Lord to the rich man of Jesus’ parable: “Fool!”

Paul admonishes us not to walk as fools in this life, but to live according to the wisdom of God (Eph. 5:15-17). That wisdom is found in His Word, and in His Law. When God commands us not to covet, it’s not because He’s some kind of cosmic killjoy; rather, it’s because He knows the way to happiness, and it’s not to be found in things.

The truly happy person is the one who meditates on the Law of God day by day (Ps. 1.1, 2). Order your copy of The Law of God today and take up this discipline with joy. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.