There was a time in your life when you came near to a crisis or you found yourself in one and you decided to allow Jesus Christ to come into your life. Prayer and praise came from your lips and your heart often. You read the Bible frequently and with tremendous joy. You were pulled out of the mire, and stood on the solid Rock – that is Christ Jesus.
Life was going in a new direction for you. You were walking on the strait path, but you began glancing at the grass on the other side. It looked lush and green year round. Little did you know that this ‘green grass’ was artificial. It could not die because it had to life to take away. It looked so good. You found in your life that there were dry moments. You had periods of pain and sorrow. You began to listen to people who said that as a Christian you should never be angry, sad, discouraged, sick, or burdened. It made you think long and hard about difficulties that you had in your life.
You decided to live in this green grass that you longingly desired because it had the illusion of life, happiness, and satisfaction. You left where God wanted you to be. Even while in the midst of lifelessness you did not realize that you chased after something that looked promising, but actually contained no hope.
Sin has a certain deceitfulness about it. It never looks as bad as it actually is. If we stay in it long enough we will find ourselves defending sinful habits. At a point we begin to really think that certain sinful practices are okay. We think that things are well until the fruit of the sinful seed that we have planted begins to show itself. The ugly fruit will show up and show out.
Children want to get as far as they can from their loving parents. They desire somewhere where they can be ‘free.’ Spouses are bored with the person that they have married and desire to have someone else. Employees want more power and pay on the job; their pay is never enough. The business owner wants another business and thinks about how to get more work from employees while paying less.
It seems like covetousness is a constant billboard all around us that says: “You don’t have enough; you deserve better; you need to get more.”
So what is the cure for this temptation? How do we overcome covetousness?
We overcome covetousness by focusing on the blessings that God has given to us instead of focusing on what we do not have. We make up our minds to not take for granted those who love us.
The cure for covetousness is gratitude to God for His blessings in our lives.
Please, my friend, don’t let an illusion cause you to miss the real thing because sometimes what is greener is not even real!
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