Covetousness is one of those overstuffed words in our religious vocabulary that has lost its cutting edge. Many don’t take it seriously. Some even suspect that when God was putting together the Ten Commandments He had nine good solid ones, but then to round out the list threw in one about coveting (Ex. 20:17).

Jesus gave a warning about covetousness to a man who interrupted Him in the middle of His sermon. The man wanted Jesus to settle a dispute between him and his brother. Evidently their father had died, and this son felt he was not getting his fair share of what the father had left behind. The inheritance had become an obsession to this man. It consumed him. As he stood in the presence of Jesus Christ and listened to His peerless preaching, he did not hear the liberating words the Savior had been speaking.

There is danger in wanting more and more things, or in wanting what belongs to another. The apostle Paul called this intense desire “idolatry” (Col. 3:5). That’s strong language. Let’s listen to the law. Let’s listen to our Lord. He wants us to be rich toward God. That’s why He warned, “Beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15).  — Haddon W. Robinson