Hebrews 13:5–“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Notice:
The Command—Let your conversation be without covetousness
The Cure for Covetousness—Be content with such things as ye have
The Constant Presence—For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee
Someone said that covetousness is the desire to have something, someone, or somewhere that God, in His sovereignty, has not given.
I’ve often preached that if you have to disobey Scripture to obtain what you are after, then you are coveting. Desire alone is not covetousness, but desires outside of God’s will are! To nurture those desires is to covet.
To covet is to disobey the 10th commandment.
To covet is to commit idolatry (Colossians 3:5).
To covet is to REBEL against a holy, loving, sovereign God Who knows what is best for His glory and our good.
To covet is to join the ranks of Esau, Absalom, Balaam, Korah, Ahab, Jezebel, the Pharisees, Ananias, Saphira, Simon the Sorcerer, and a host of wicked rebels against God.
Jesus specifically warned His church to “beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15).
Scripture demands that God’s church not even eat with one who calls himself a brother and is covetous (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).
1 Corinthians 6:9,10 puts the covetous in the same ranks as the fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, sodomites, thieves, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. That passage reveals that COVETOUSNESS IS THE CHARACTER OF THE LOST, BUT NOT THE SAVED.
Covetousness disqualifies a man from being ordained as a pastor (1 Timothy 3:3).
Covetousness is a mark of last days PROFESSING FAKE CHRISTIANITY (2 Timothy 3:2).
2 Peter 2:3,14 reveals that covetousness is part of the character of APOSTATES.
We have what we need. Our needs are met. We may pray, “Please, Lord, if it be your will,” but when we attempt to obtain anything outside of the bounds of Scripture, if we have to disobey Scripture to obtain, we are acting on covetousness and we are headed for trouble.
If you are lost and a slave to covetousness, there is hope in Jesus Christ. Please read our webpage titled “The Gospel.” You can be delivered from sin!