Tues.’s Devo - Thou Shalt Not Covet

Read: Joshua 7:16-9:2; Luke 16:1-18; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 13:2-3 All the tribes met to see what God would say about why they had lost the battle with Ai. God chose the tribe of Judah, then the clan of Zera, then the family of Zimri, then the man of Achan. They asked him what he had done and he admitted that he coveted and stole 200 silver coins and one piece of gold that barely weighed a pound. He had hid it under his tent. Acan’s name means “trouble” so they stoned Achan and buried him in a valley they also named “The Valley of Trouble”. The Lord told Joshua to go take Ai because now they would win. God told Joshua that the men could keep all the spoil. If only Achan had waited. Joshua was given the strategy to take the town. He chose 30,000 men and put 25,000 in the front for the charge. The other 5,000 were placed behind the city for an ambush. The 25,000 would draw the men out of the town to fight. They would turn and run with the men of Ai chasing them. The ambush would set the town on fire so when they turned to see what was happening to their town, the 25,000 would turn and kill them. It worked and they killed 12,000 that day and impaled the king. Joshua built an altar to the Lord with uncut stones. Joshua copied onto the stones the instructions of Moses. Then Joshua divided all the people into two groups. One group stood in front of Mt. Gerizim and the other in front of Mount Ebal. They faced each other with the Ark in the middle. Joshua read to them all the blessings and curses the Moses had written and every command that Moses had ever given to them. Meanwhile, all the kings of the people in the land came together to combine their armies against Israel In Luke, Jesus has just given the Pharisees three parables about themselves. He now turned to his disciples and told them a parable. A rich man had a steward who he heard had not handled his affairs well so he was going to fire him. The steward knew he would need mercy when he was fired so he went out and extended mercy to the creditors of his boss. The boss found out and commended him for being wise. Jesus said that the children of this world were wiser in their generation than the children of light. He told them to make friends of the children of the world because they might need their help one day. His point was that if you aren’t faithful in the way you live your life in this world, you will not be faithful with the Lord’s true riches. We train in the world and it carries over to our spiritual life. We can’t love the world and God that would be having two masters. The Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all this and sneered at his conclusion. Jesus pointed out to them that they justified their coveting but God saw their hearts and He knows the truth. Just like He knew what they were doing by putting their wives away and not legally divorcing them, excluding them from any payment they might have to make. Since they were not legally divorced they would be committing adultery to remarry. It all revealed their covetous heart. Lord, help us to have the right attitude about our money and how to look at it. Help us to be gracious and giving.