Law and Order

Want More and Less!
Exodus 20:17
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17


I. THE PROBLEM OF POSSESSIONS

“All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.” Ecclesiastes 6:7
“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).



II. A CULTURE OF COMPARISON


“I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:23

III. THE PROBLEM OF PERSPECTIVE

Matthew 19:25-26, “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
Learning to Live for Legitimate Longings:
It’s called contentment. Contentment is the opposite of striving, aching, restlessness, and worry and anxiety. Wouldn’t you like to be freed from your endless pursuit of accumulation?
“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30).
Paul wrote:
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13


Learn to live for legitimate longings: HOW?
1. RECOGNIZE THAT EVERYTHING IS A GIFT FROM GOD


1 Chronicles 29:16 says, “O LORD our God, as for all this abundance … it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.”

2. RESOLVE TO GIVE THANKS IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

3. RESTRICT YOUR INTAKE

4. RECOMMIT YOURSELF TO GIVE GENEROUSLY
Warren Wiersbe says, “An open heart cannot maintain a closed hand.”
Generosity is a natural expression of our love and gratitude to God.

Maybe our discontentment is telling us something important. C.S. Lewis says: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” Our citizenship not here in America…in Heaven! The Apostle Paul understood this when he gave up his wealth and influence and prestige and freedom—and even his life--to serve the Lord as a missionary: Nothing else mattered to him.
Philippians 3:7-8: 7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…
In Acts 20:24 Paul said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.”