1. We must realize that all things belong to God and that He is just letting us use them for a little while.
Psalm 24:1 - "The earth is the LORD's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein." Ownership is such a temporary reality on Earth. No one owns anything for very long before either it or its possessor is used up! "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).
2. We must remember that this Earth is not our home.
I Peter 2:11 teaches - "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." We are literally just traveling through this world. Are we living like travelers? Are we living like those who have heavenly treasure waiting?
3. We must understand that we are not going to take any material things with us when we die.
I Timothy 6:7 affirms - "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."
4. We must recognize that a pursuit of the wrong things will cost us our souls.
The Lord Jesus Christ asked in Matthew 16:26 - "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Even if you could rule the world and have any physical wish fulfilled, it would not be worth more than your eternal soul!
5. We must seek true and lasting treasures.
Matthew 6:19-21 records - "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Treasure that which is eternal, not temporal!
6. We also must believe that God has promised to His children the necessities of life if they will trust Him.
Jesus declared in Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Do we believe that God will take care of His own? A spirit of greed is a testament to shallow faith.
7. We must not forget that God wants us to share what we do have with others.
The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:28 - "Let him that stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). But, many are unwilling to try it! God has blessed us freely, and we should freely give to others as we have opportunity (cf. Matt. 10:8; Gal. 6:9,10).
We shake our heads at Judas Iscariot for selling out the Lord and his own soul for thirty pieces of silver! The question is: What is your price? What is mine? Friends, we must be strong enough to resist Satan's offers, because he will make offers! He wants us to fall prey to covetousness, and, as we have seen in prior lessons, there are many different angles of attack regarding this sin. "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have" (Heb. 13:5).