Micah 2
Curtail your Covetousness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, September 18.
We all need to get a grip on our appetites before they take a hold of our lives. One of the ways we do this is by curtailing our covetousness before it manifests into evil and unjust practices. To covet means to deeply desire something that someone else has, and it carries the negative connotation that you are willing to either take it from someone for yourself or reprioritize your life to get it. When we curtail our covetousness, we protect ourselves and others from evil by coming in agreement with God’s tenth commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).
In Micah 2:1-2, the prophet proclaimed judgment upon Israel because of the corruption caused by coveting, “Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, for it is in the power of their hands. They covet fields and then seize them, and houses, and take them away. They rob a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.” God had given each tribe a portion of the Promised Land, then each family was given a lot on which to build a home and work the land, raising their children and providing for the common good of the community. Yet, some were not content with the ancient boundary lines, growing covetous for what their neighbor had, and ultimately hurting others to feed their insatiable desires. Get a grip on your appetites before they take a hold of you; practice the spiritual discipline of simplicity. Learn contentment and be a blessing to your community.
Seize the moment and curtail your covetousness before your desire for something, that is not rightfully yours, leads you to do evil against your neighbor.
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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