| A Boss After God’s Own Heart 6 / ABAGOH >>> |
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A Boss After
God’s Own Heart (ABAGOH)– Part 6 Covetousness and lust |
Exodus 20:17 –KJV– Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant,
nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour's.
Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.
James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of
his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The Online Oxford Dictionnary gives us the following definition about
the term “covetousness”, which means: having or showing a great desire
to possess something belonging to someone else. These are the synonyms
of the verb “covet”: desire, be consumed with desire for, crave, have
one's heart set on; want, wish for, long for, yearn for, dream of, aspire
to, hanker for, hanker after, hunger after/for, thirst for, ache for,
fancy, burn for, pant for. (Oxford Online Dictionary).
Covetousness is thus understood as the strong and intense desire to
possess something that belongs to someone else. It is a craving or a
burning desire for something that is not our own. It means envying something
that somebody else possesses. Covetousness can lead to other sins if
it is not restrained or dealt with. Covetousness has a negative connotation
because it is a desire with an evil root which usually leads to other
sins such as lying, stealing or killing, as we can see in the case of
king David. The desire to possess something that belongs to somebody
else arises when one of our five senses gets in contact with the desired
object. Either we see it, smell it, hear it, taste it or touch it. We
must first come into contact with that thing through one of our senses.
The Bible says in 2 Samuel 11:2 that David “saw” Bathsheba from the
roof of his palace “and the woman was very beautiful to look upon”.
So David saw Bathsheba, he liked her and started lusting after her because
she was a beautiful woman. In his case, the sense that served as a door
for the sin that he committed was the sight.
Men are generally attracted by what they see. David had already committed
adultery with Bathsheba in his heart or in his thoughts just by contemplating
her, even before he actually slept with her. The Lord Jesus tells us
in Matthew 5:28: “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Lust is defined as a strong sexual desire, but it can also be applied
in other areas, for example the lust for power or the lust for prestige.
In any case, sin starts in the heart when we open the appropriate door
to it. The heart is the factory where our future actions are designed
and manufactured. Our actions are determined by the things that constantly
occupy our mind. When we covet something, our minds and our thoughts
are so much involved that we start looking for a way to obtain what
we so much desire, and sometimes at any cost, regardless of the consequences.
The more we allow ourselves to be consumed by a particular desire, the
more we become unsatisfied and unhappy until we get what we want. But
the problem is that most of the time, the satisfaction of having what
we so much desired lasts for just a short time and the desire becomes
even stronger. That’s why so many people find themselves in a vicious
circle with of all kinds of addictions, desperately trying to find a
true and lasting satisfaction. But the good news is that Jesus Christ
is able to quench the flames of the numerous desires that consume us.
He can give us a lasting satisfaction and peace. Covetousness and lust
have the ability to turn the people into slaves. Whoever commits and
practices sin is the slave of sin. But glory be to Jesus who came to
set the captives free, and when the Lord Jesus sets a person free, that
person can really enjoy true freedom (John 8:34-36).
At this junction,
let us address the dangers of television. Television has a very strong
manipulative power because it involves two major senses, the sight and
the hearing. Television conditions the way you live and influences your
decisions. It can have a very polluting effect on the mind and soul.
Television creates a lot of desire for the things that you don’t necessarily
need and lets you panting after them. Most of the time, people do not
really realize how much influence television has on the way they think
and on the decisions they take on a daily basis. The negative influence
of television on children for instance has been largely debated and
is proven. But television has ill effects on adults too. So many cartoons
and children programs that claim to have an educative purpose are actually
diffusing messages that promote disobedience to the parents, rebellion,
laziness, violence and sexual immorality. How often do we hear about
teenagers who shoot at their school mates and teachers at school as
a result of what they saw on television? There are even some cartoons
meant for little children that promote homosexuality and lesbianism.
The role of the television is to shape the mindset of the viewers in
such a way that they think that the behaviors that are portrayed are
normal and must not only be accepted, but can also be applied in our
lives. The recurrence of advertisement can be compared to a steady bombardment
of the spirit. The news that you listen to or watch (and sadly to say
the news do not necessarily give you the true information about the
facts) or the films and series that you watch on TV can have a very
dangerous effect on your personality because they send subliminal messages
that are absorbed by your subconscience without your awareness. As a
result, you find yourself thinking and acting in a way that has been
programmed by the authors of these “entertainments”. If everything that
television presents is not “polluted”, still there is no denying that
it is a powerful tool used by the devil to steal, kill and destroy the
fear of God in the hearts of the people, even in the lives of the unaware
Christians. There is a massive demonic operation at work through television,
and this also applies for the use of the internet when there is no discipline
and control. If Jesus tells us that the eye is the lamp of the body
(Luke 11:34 -36), then we can understand that it is important for us
to be careful with what we expose our eyes to. Spiritually speaking,
we lose the ability to perceive things correctly when we expose ourselves
to the pollution that uses the eyes as a channel. And this is where
the danger of television is obvious.
The Lord Jesus teaches us that the things that defile a person come
from the heart, as we read in Mark 7:21-23“For from within, [that is]
out of the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes,
acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries, acts of greed
and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and
jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and
foolishness (poor judgment). All these evil things [schemes and desires]
come from within and defile and dishonor the man.” (AMP Bible Gateway
Online). As we said before, the heart is the factory where our future
actions are manufactured and designed. The Bible admonishes us to keep
and guard our hearts with all vigilance and above all, for out of it
flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). The things that we feed on
will determine the actions that we take. King David allowed his heart
to dwell on something that was forbidden. He lusted after the wife of
Uriah when he saw her. The problem is that David did not just notice
Bathsheba from the roof of his palace like somebody would notice a cat
or a rabbit in a bush. No, but after setting his eyes on Bathsheba,
he got stuck. His attention was caught when he saw her bathing and he
contemplated her beautiful body shape. Normally, as a man who was married
and also had concubines, he should have looked away for the sake of
decency because he was not supposed to stare at somebody’s nakedness
if that person was not his own wife. So after he saw Bathsheba and was
enticed by her beauty, he began longing for more. He started thinking
about how it would be if he could just hold her in his arms and have
her in his bed. And when it comes to sensuality, the human imagination
can be very much productive…
Even though somebody told David that the woman he saw bathing is the
wife of one of his most faithful servants, David gave way to the covetousness
and lust that sprang up in his heart. He decided to go beyond the boundaries
and overlooked the fact that this woman belonged to someone else. He
called for Bathsheba and slept with her, thus misusing his position
and influence as a king to satisfy an egoistic desire. Being aware of
the fact that this woman belonged to somebody else should have been
a reason enough not to dwell on such thoughts. David was not an unmarried
king. And even if that had been the case, it would not be a reason to
sleep with somebody else’s wife or with a woman who was not his wife.
Nowadays, sexual immorality is a common practice that is viewed as normal.
Married and unmarried people, young people as well as mature ones give
themselves over to all kinds of sexual activities without restrain and
think that it is normal. But God’s standards will never change and God
does not agree with such depravity. God’s Word declares that our body
is the temple of the Holy Spirit and advises us to flee from sexual
immorality (1 Corinthians 6:15-20). It is not ok just because everybody
is doing it. The broad way that many people are taking leads to eternal
damnation. But the narrow way that Jesus is offering us leads to eternal
life with Him. We must honor our body and treat it as being God’s dwelling
place. The marital bed must be honored by all because marriage is a
divine institution that binds two persons of different sexes that have
committed to love one another and be faithful to one another for the
rest of their lives. God will judge the fornicators and the adulterers
(See Hebrew 13:4; 1 Timothy 1:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 especially
about homosexuality). The space would not be enough here to develop
this subject, but we want to say that we have nothing to lose when we
respect the standards that God has specified for our lives because they
assure us a peaceful life and a healthy spirit, but also and foremost
eternal life.
So let’s come back to king David. He had everything he needed to satisfy
his needs in his palace when these events with Bathsheba took place.
But he wanted to have more. He was not content and satisfied with what
he had. So he gave in to concupiscence and lust. The Bible says that
nothing good dwells in the flesh, which means that the desires of the
flesh are contrary to the desires of the spirit (See Romans chapter
7). The more you feed your flesh, the more it demands. The Lord Jesus
said that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak; that’s why we
must watch and pray to keep the flesh in a state of submission to the
will of God (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:21). We must crucify the flesh with
all its pernicious passions because they usually lead us in a direction
that is contrary to the will of God. There is no condemnation for those
who walk according to the Spirit of God and not according to their natural
desires and inclinations (Roman 8:1-14). There is a constant and daily
battle going on between the desires of the flesh and the will of God
for our lives. But we must fight the good fight of faith till the end
as valiant soldiers in Christ. Sin should not have dominion over us
and we don’t want to be enslaved once again after we have been set free.
One of the most powerful weapons that we can use against the carnal
desires that rage in us is when we adopt a constant life of prayer and
fasting. Fasting on a regular basis will give us the power to control
our carnal desires and take authority over the works of the devil. mt