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Greed

Greed. The word conjures up images of excessive, yet insatiable, appetite for things. Greed takes on many forms. Some of which are more easily recognizable than others.

Some people are greedy for money and luxurious items while others seek power and prestige. Still others are on an eternal quest to serve their physical lusts through a more powerful high from drugs or by seeking multiple sexual partners. These things we often associate with greed.

Do you recognize greed when it thirsts for simple things, such as the latest hot collectible on the market? We all can easily be effected by greed, if we are not careful. It does not take a large income to be greedy. In fact, some of the most poverty-stricken people are more greedy than wealthy people. Why? Because they can actually want money more than those who have it. Many wealthy people have more than enough money to sustain them during their lifetimes yet they seek to acquire more. The Book of Ecclesiastes speaks of the folly of seeking for wealth. It also reveals that, He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.^[1]

It does not matter if you have no money or plenty of it, if you are greedy you will never find satisfaction. The Bible admonishes us to not count our value in our possessions or the amount of money we have or do not have. Luke 12:15 reads, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Jesus told a parable about a greedy man who gained much wealth in his lifetime yet it cost in his life. In this story, a greedy rich man sought monetary gain but lost his life so he could not enjoy that which he had sought.

      And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 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. 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. 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? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.^[2]

We too should be careful that we do not spend all of our time, energy and resources seeking that which is temporal and lose that which is eternal. This is why the Bible warns us about greed. I Timothy 6:9-11 admonishes us:

      But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

If you want to spend your life striving for something, then acquire those things that are truly valuable. These are things that you cannot list on a financial ledger or insure with a liability carrier. They are things that cannot be stolen, lost or counterfeited. In addition, they are imperious to greed and its consequences because they are eternal and come only through our Heavenly Father.

      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.^[3]

Additional Scriptures:  

Psalms 62:10

Proverbs 1:10-19

Proverbs 15:27

Proverbs 21:25-26

Proverbs 23:6-8

Proverbs 25:16

Proverbs 27:20

Proverbs 30:15-16

Ecclesiastes 6:7

© Copyright 1998 by Synthia Robinson-Pack. All rights reserved.

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