What the Bible says about Coveting Material Things
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 In chapter 2, Solomon launches into what he had learned about his works of building material things like houses and gardens and seeking even greater wealth. His conclusion? All of these material achievements were nothing but vanity, a grasping after wind. He finds no real, sustained profit in them, nothing that truly added to his quality of life, no lasting fulfillment. He does not mean they resulted in no sense of achievement or passing pleasure, but that their fruit never truly fulfilled God's purpose for man. Therefore, those things are poor substitutes for a sustained sense of well-being. He then proceeds into an exploration of wine and entertainment. These are simply another form of materialism, ways of pleasing the flesh. He concludes that they, too, are folly, a mad pursuit. John W. Ritenbaugh Ecclesiastes and Christian Living (Part Seven): Contentment Related Topics: Coveting Material Things | Ecclesiastes and Christian Living | Ecclesiastes and Christian Living Contentment | Material Achievement | Materialism | No Profit "Under the Sun" | No Sustained Profit from Materialism | Quality of Life

Mark 4:19 A simple illustration helps understand this statement: A desire-driven "window shopping" for things to do in order to be "busy"—filling our time with meaningless, self-centered, carnal activities—crowds out God's Word. When we elect to do this, we risk many spiritual dangers. When we covet carnal activities or material things, we serve them. If we give our time, energy, and money to them to the extent that we leave only the barest minimum of those things for God, we are practicing idolatry. It may reveal itself in us through a fear that, if we give ourselves to God, we will have nothing for ourselves. We live as if life in God cannot be full enough to make up for the loss of other things. John W. Ritenbaugh The Tenth Commandment Related Topics: Coveting | Coveting Material Things | Desire | Desire as a Bridgehead to Sin | Idolatry | Lusting

 

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