February 2, 2024

Author: Pastor David Miner
February 02, 2024

Reading: 1 Kings 21                  Optional Reading: 1 Kings 20, 22
“Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”    (1 Kings 21:2 NIV)

 
David told his best friend Jeff, “Tim’s pocketknife is so cool. Maybe he will sell it to me.”
Jeff answered, “I do not think so. That pocketknife was given to him by his grandfather.”
David approached Tim and asked him, “How much for that pocketknife you carry?”
“Oh, I couldn’t sell it,” Tim replied. “It was a gift from my grandfather.”
“Come on, I will give you $20.”
“I am sorry,” Tim said. “I just can’t do it.”
David went away angry. He really wanted that pocketknife. Then David hatched a plan. He would steal the pocketknife when Tim was in the gym playing basketball.
The story is remarkably simple to make a point – have you ever wanted something like that? The Bible calls such feelings covetousness. It means longing for something that belongs to another.
That happened to King Ahab. He wanted Naboth’s vineyard. When Naboth would not sell, Ahab’s wife devised a way to kill Naboth and take the vineyard by force. God punished Ahab and his wife severely for their sin.
Wishing for a gift is not wrong. But wanting things that belong to others is sin. Be wary of your feelings, or you may do something evil to get what you want.
Lord, help me to learn never to covet things the way Ahab did. Amen.

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