Key points
- 1
1Coveting is the devil's number one play — it is what caused his fall and what he uses to instigate our sin.
- 2
2God takes coveting — especially stealing His glory by refusing to trust Him with first fruits — with deadly seriousness, as shown in the story of Achan.
“choose trust not lust, because that's what coveting is”
- 3
3Coveting progresses in three stages: comparison (I saw), conflict (I wanted), and being consumed (I hid).
Illustration
A fish in a pet store repeatedly rams the glass trying to reach the identical tank next to it, illustrating how coveting leads us to chase the same-sized substitutes rather than the vast life God designed us for.
- 4
4Sins of omission — failing to serve, give, and share faith when you know you should — are just as real as sins of commission.
“Remember, it's a sin to know what you ought to do and then don't do it”
- 5
5The antidote to coveting is learning contentment in Christ, not in circumstances.
Related passage“the key is stop wanting the wrong thing. Stop coveting. Stop taking what's not yours”
- 6
6God promises to transform the valley of trouble into a gateway of hope for those who trust Him.
“I will transform the valley of trouble into a gateway of hope”
“you are playing a silly game, playing with a plastic little toy, pretending those things you want and need are actually doing what you think they're gonna do and you're only playing”
A story from life
Bill Bush recounts trading a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card (now worth half a million dollars) as a child for a Star Trek communicator toy, illustrating how we chronically misvalue the eternal for the temporary.
“we tend to make one of two mistakes with the devil. We underestimate how smart and cunning and how good of an instigator he is, or we act like he's not even real”
A story from life
Bill Bush recounts a trip to Malawi, Africa eight years prior, teaching pastors and encountering witch doctors who charged the truck wielding weapons, then fled when confronted.
Application
Pastor Bill calls everyone — himself included — to an honest inventory of where we are lusting instead of trusting. Practically, that means stopping the comparison game (looking around instead of up), genuinely rejoicing for others and learning to want what we already have, releasing the first fruits of our time and money to God before we see how the budget works out, and keeping our eyes fixed on what is eternal rather than the temporary things we are tempted to hoard. The promise is real: when we stop playing Achan's game and trust God with what is His, He leads us out of the valley of trouble and into a gateway of hope.
