Greed
Joshua 17:16, “The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”
People are greedy; all people! It is in our human nature to think that we somehow deserve what other people have. No matter who you may be or who your ancestors are greed is an innate part of who you are. Todays verse proves that!
The sons of Joseph, Joseph who was used by God to save the Israelites, came to Joshua and said there are too many of us to be put in this little area that you gave us; we deserve more than that.In his wisdom, Joshua said, “You’re right. If you will go and clear this land I will give it to you.” But, they replied, “We don’t want to have to work for anything extra, but you should give it to us; besides there are too many dangers in front of us there. You should just give it to us.” Greed brings with it two points of view that are totally contrary to God.
The first point is that of laziness. When we get greedy, we also get a sense of entitlement. We get the idea that things should just be handed to us regardless of the work we put into it. The second point that comes with greediness is fear. The sons of Joseph looked at the land Joshua offered, and they saw the obstacles in front of them. HELLO! Had they not been paying attention for the last forty years. Every so-called obstacle that had stood in the way of Israel had been annihilated by God, so they could take possession of the land that God promised.
Greed is a natural human feeling, but as Christians we must resist that feeling. The Bible commands us that we are to kill our human feelings, and take on the thoughts of God.(Galatians 2:20)
The mind of Christ is not greedy. It is the exact opposite; Christ did not demand that He was given anything, but He was completely humble; and gave Himself so that we could gain, through Him, the eternal life that God had promised.
When we follow His example then all of our human emotions will be done away with, and we will receive His Spirit of humbleness which is the polar opposite of the human feeling of greed.
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Father God, I thank You for teaching me that greediness is not the true way, but I am to take on the mind of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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