Our Lie-Stained Life

By and large, we earthlings (especially we Americans) are living a lie-stained life, having opened wide and swallowed the devil's lie that ‘life is all about money!’ 

Consider the depth and the far-reaching implications and the price of believing this lie.  Going with the cultural currents and worshiping at the devil's money alter, we:

-Abort unborn babies

-Beggar our neighbors

-Rob graves of the dead

-Steal the tithe from God

-Cheat governments of taxes owed

-Promote wars for the sake of profit

-Orphan and sell our children's bodies

-Steal and sell body organs, even our own

-Borrow and finagle ways to avoid repaying

-Lie, cheat, steal and scheme our way through life

-'Shack-up' and refuse marriage over the fear of money loss

-Distort our paths, accepting do anything/go anywhere jobs

-Sell armaments to the highest bidder, ignoring the intended uses

…and the list goes on, and on, and on, with each generation finding ever more cleaver ways to … sin for the sake of money.

This stain is so deep and its implications so pervasive that we have practically squeezed all the 'life' out of life.  We have become like 'dead men/women walking', indiscriminately marching to the beat of m-o-n-e-y.  Both by example and urgings, we prompt our children early to board the money-hungry train, warping every decision of their lives around the money pole. 

Our push for money isn’t really all about money, per se, but about things money can obtain.  Money essentially offers the potential to purchase things tangible and intangible.  World economies are largely based on the assumption of infinite growth in production and consumption, mostly of consumer and military goods, thus massive consumerism and war mongering are considered ‘good for the economy’!

The taproot of our lie-stained, money-for-things-driven life style is the spirit of covetousness.  Consider the pressures you have personally experienced from intense (sometimes inexplicable) desire for some things, and the pressures from the threats/fears of not having necessary things.  These pressures are the direct manifestation of the spirit of covetousness.  The well-disguised root of covetousness easily triggers these pressures that can and do seed a wide range of emotions (both positive and negative), thoughts, words and actions.  Given this, it is clear the spirit of covetousness is a major ‘mover and shaker’ in our world.  No wonder satan and his crew have worked tirelessly to convince us covetousness is only about desiring other people’s stuff!  Cleaver but dead wrong!

Given the ease with which we are deceived, would it help to have a ready gauge to determine when this spirit is operating and when you have unknowingly fallen into its powerful grip?  Like you, I have struggled both to recognize this spirit and to free myself from its grip.  The rapidity of change in ‘the latest/greatest whatever’ (be it fashions, cars, tech gadgets, fads, games, movies, productivity aids, etc.), working in conjunction with the increasing income/wealth imbalances in our world, effectively assures the roots of covetousness will be increasingly fruitful in our world!     

Thankfully, Jesus gave us both a clear warning of, and the escape route from the vise-like grip of the spirit of covetousness:

Warning:  And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (Luke 12:15)

Escape route: [Recognize/know that] …your Father knows you need …things.  Seek first the kingdom of God, and ...things shall be added to you. Give and it will be given to you.  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Luke 12:32, 6:38; Hebrews 13:5)

Here’s a helpful handle to grab and hold onto this escape route:

                              M-ammon [for things]

                              O-ught

                              N-ever

                              E-dge-out (as in replace)

                              Y-ahweh!

I attest this escape route really works and works well!  The spirit of covetousness and the Spirit of Giving are opposites, and they cancel out the effects of each other.  Whenever you’re caught in the trap and grip of covetousness, quick-quick, find something worthwhile to give to somebody!  Do this, and repeat as often as necessary, and that ole spirit will high-tail it out of your life!  Why does this work?  Giving in the very face of your need or desire is an absolutely great way to usher in the presence and power of God into situations, and to demonstrate your trust in Him to meet your needs and also to give you the desires of your heart, as you rest on His Word.  This is like taking a spiritual sledge hammer to the spirit of covetousness and its works.  Try it; have fun with it; let me know how it works for you!  

Quite simply, this is faith in action -- trusting God for things accessible and inaccessible with money.  As if to really get our attention, the admonition to live by faith is reiterated four times in The Bible!

Faith -- the currency of Heaven’s economic system on earth.

Study it well.  Learn to ‘LIVE by it’…really!