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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is coveting with a pure heart Godly? | James 4:3 | stjones | 29990 | ||
Greetings, Nolan, my friend; To "desire" God's blessings is not necessarily to "covet" them. Somewhere I read/heard that to "covet" is to not only the desire to posess something but to posess it at someone else's expense, i.e. to covet one's neighbor's wife. A quick word search in the NIV seems to support this notion. "Covet" is always used in the sense of desiring what someone else already posesses. It's a zero-sum game. If I'm to win, someone else has to lose. This is not true with God's blessings; they are limitless. I remember explaining to our older daughter when her little sister arrived that we wouldn't love her any less. We had a box of love and until then she had gotten the whole thing. She wouldn't get less now because when we got her sister, we got another box too. They would both get the whole thing. So it is with God's blessings. Had I been a Christian then, I'd have known what I was talking about! ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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2 | Is coveting with a pure heart Godly? | James 4:3 | The Disciple | 30020 | ||
Indy, (if i may call you that- one of my favorite movie heros), I enjoyed your explanation and your box of love. That is quite a LOVELY way to share the LOVE you have. I will try and remember your words for my 2 girls...whom I LOVE like you do yours. You are correct about our 'desire' and 'covet' having different meanings. Actually, that isnt the question being posed. Allow me to state it better or ask the question more clearly. Should we be purposefully looking for His Blessings FOR THE SAKE of getting them? In other words, finding formulae or principals in His word to help us recieve from Him? Are we to supposed to do good works now - for blessings later? (or is this something we should do anyway, because we are Christian) Jesus helps us to understand what our Motives should be in Matthew 6. But before we read Matt 6, Jesus is already teaching us in chapter 5. Notice the many areas of life He overshadows to let us see where our hearts should be. Motive is the heart of the issue, isnt it? If we desire HIS GIFTS solely for the sake of reaping rewards now or later, is this not coveting? I am not trying to say we shouldnt desire His blessings. What I am trying to say is, we shouldnt desire to reap - BECAUSE we have sown. That to me is a heart that covets. The Lord will Bless us BECAUSE we are His children. Matt 6:33, helps us to see where our hearts should be. ...help us Lord not to convolute your story... *shalom* D |
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