Thankfulness Begins with Appreciation

17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

Ex 20:17 (NLT)

15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:15-21 (ESV)

You know it is amazing to serve a God who truly knows everything we are going through even down to the writing of something as simple as a devotional. You see I am writing this tonight at this late hour because this morning I was busy preparing food for 500 people who are less fortunate than my family and I. Yes that is how I spent the last 30 hours cooking and preparing food. This outreach is something that my home church has been doing for seven years and every year I am humbled by those I meet as I try to serve God. Now you may wonder what this has to do with coveting the lives, belongings, and blessings of others. Well simply put we are not able to have thankfulness in our lives if we are always looking at what others have and allowing it to prevent us from experiencing the blessings of God in our lives.

You see Jesus explained that our value of life should never be based on what we have or don’t have. When we work to gain what others have we often miss what God has planned for our lives. See all things pass away and as Christians we should seek to have our energy and time invested in Kingdom business. I have come to understand we are blessed by God so we can bless others and bring individuals into the Kingdom of God. If you have a TV in your home to day and have a roof over your head you are wealthier that 2/3 of the world. My question to you; what are you doing with what God has blessed you and your family? I pray you will look at whatever situation you find yourself in as a blessing. In doing this you will not fall to the sin of covertness.