“Take heed, and beware of covetousness …” (Luke 12:15, KJV)
These teachings are currently discussing the twelve specific fruits that stem from the root of pride. The seventh fruit of pride is jealousy. We have already devoted quite a bit of material to this concept relating to the topic of ‘the spirit of jealousy’ in the teachings of Days 815-828. It is however important to realise that this fruit can also be closely linked to pride. The link might be obscured in certain cases, but is nestled in the fact that the proud person is guilty of such a grandiose sense of self that they think anything should ipso facto be within their reach, and when that is not the case, they are consumed by jealousy.
The eighth fruit of pride is greed, or covetousness. The New Testament does not squirm away from presenting greed as one of the most destructive characteristics one could have. Jesus speaks about this more than about any other topic, only excluding the kingdom of God!
Just like the previous fruit, pride has a strange, deeper link to greed. 1 Thess. 2:5 does not in vain refer to it as “a cloak for covetousness”! The proud person has a misplaced sense of his own importance, and within this false perception it is important that he/she considers everything to belong to them – this becomes “a heart trained in covetous practices” (2 Pet. 2:14). This leads to an insatiable desire to want more and more. The spiritual principle of greed and covetousness is presented in beautiful symbolic terms in Prov. 30:15-16: “The leech has two daughters— give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say, ‘Enough!’: The grave,the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water— and the fire never says, ‘Enough!’” Please note the metaphorical power and implications of meaning of these examples – greed causes four things: it brings death, it causes infertility, it brings about a lack of living water (Amos 8:11), and it causes the consuming of the nature of God’s character: fire (Heb. 12:29).
Earlier we referred to greed as a spiritual principle. According to Ezek. 16:27 each of us have a destined “allotment”, in fact: “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” (Prov. 10:22). Your desire for more causes you to be filled with greed (Rom. 1:29) – it becomes, in other words, a spiritual principle. It brings about all kinds of elements in your life, which Eph. 4:17b-19 spells out in the following terms: “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness”.
Thus you gain, according to 2 Pet. 2:14, “a heart trained in covetous practices”, and become one of the “accursed children,” with no heritage in the kingdom of Christ or of God (Eph. 5:5). This is terrifying.
The simple counter to greed is Luke 12:31: “But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” Selah.
- Selah: Are these fruits perhaps present within you?
- Read: 1-2; Ps. 68.
- Memorise: 68:18 (look for the equivalent in the New Testament)
For a more in-depth understanding: Read http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/january/27.34.html
