Thursday, March 4, 2010

Number 3 on a List of Seven (Proverbs 15:27)

There is a need for more built into the human psyche. It has been said that greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

"He who is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. Proverbs 15:27, Amplified

The word for greed that we may be more familiar with is covetousness. One of the original Ten Commandments tells us not to covet: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, not his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17, NKJV) Isn't greed nothing more than wanting more than what you have? And if you do not have it, then someone else must have it. Greed breeds a restless heart. Who who is content with what he has, he too has a contented house. His heart can stay focused on the most important of things: Jesus.
The original list of deadly sins can be linked to a 4th century monk named Evagrius Ponticus. He actually listed them in Greek and they read like this: gastrimagria (gluttony), porneia (lust), philargyria (avarice or greed), lype (despair), orge (wrath), akedia (acedia or sloth), kenodoxia (vainglory), hyperephania (pride). In AD 590, Pope Gregory I revised the list and replaced vainglory with envy and removing fornication and replacing it with extravagance.
In truth, there is not one sin greater than another. Any and all sin builds a barrier between myself and the Lord. Sin makes me undeserving of His grace and forgiveness. If I allow that way of thinking to guide my life, then I will never seek out His forgiveness. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23, NKJV) Everyday we are on the battle field. Whatever sin has eclipsed God in your life, realize that it cannot rain all the time. The sun must come out again and it will come out again. The Son longs for fellowship with us, the only sin that will separate us is the sin we refuse forgiveness for.

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