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The big idea

Coveting is choosing to lust after what belongs to God instead of trusting Him, and it is the devil's number one play against us.

God's love for us is real, but He also takes coveting and His own glory deadly seriously, because the desire to grab what belongs to Him is the very sin that toppled Satan and destroyed Achan's family. The hope is that Jesus took that seriousness on Himself at the cross, and He can turn our valley of trouble into a gateway of hope when we choose to trust Him with our first fruits instead of chasing what isn't ours.

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.

Point 1 of 7

We tend to either underestimate or overestimate the devil, when the real issue is recognizing his one main play.

Pastor Bill opens with a story from preaching in Malawi villages, where 'witch doctor' impersonators dressed to intimidate people for food and money, but ran the other way when confronted head-on. He uses this to show that Christians either dismiss the devil as not real or blame him for everything, when the biblical answer is simply to resist him and he will flee.

We underestimate how smart and cunning and how good of an instigator he is, or we act like he's not even real

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 2 of 7

Coveting is the root sin — it's what took Satan down and what he uses to take us down.

Working from the tenth commandment in Deuteronomy 5:21, Pastor Bill defines coveting as being devoured by the desire to acquire something that belongs to someone else. He traces this to Satan coveting God's throne and to Adam and Eve coveting God's position in the garden, showing that nearly every sin traces back to coveting something that belongs to God, especially His glory.

Point 3 of 7

God takes coveting and His own glory with deadly seriousness, as shown in the story of Achan.

Pastor Bill walks through Joshua 7, where Israel was told to take Jericho but give God the first fruits of the plunder, and Achan instead hid gold, silver, and a robe for himself. The consequence was national defeat and Achan's execution in the Valley of Trouble, showing how seriously God views refusing to trust Him with first fruits.

that's the devil's play, and we fall for it and fall for it and fall for it and fall for it

— Pastor Bill Bush

choose trust not lust, because that's what coveting is

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 4 of 7

Coveting follows a progression: comparison, conflict, and being consumed.

Pastor Bill breaks down Achan's confession ('I saw... I wanted... I took... I hid') into stages: we compare ourselves to how the world operates, we mask our wanting in claims of fairness and need, and we end up hiding and being buried by what we grabbed instead of trusting God with it.

Point 5 of 7

Chasing what isn't ours never satisfies, because we were built for more than any earthly 'tank.'

He tells the story of a fish ramming the glass of its tank trying to get into the identical tank next door, comparing it to how people fight over which 'tank' (job, political side, possession) will finally make them happy, when we were built for a bigger ocean than any tank can offer.

So quit trying to tank hop. It's not gonna take you anywhere

— Pastor Bill Bush

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.

Point 6 of 7

Failing to use what God gave us — our time, gifts, and money — is itself a sin, not just a missed opportunity.

Citing James 4:17, Pastor Bill argues that withholding our spiritual gifts, first fruits, and witness isn't a neutral omission but active disobedience and a refusal to trust God, contrasting this with the transactional 'legalism' of just avoiding a to-don't list.

Remember, it's a sin to know what you ought to do and then don't do it

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 7 of 7

Contentment and hope come from trusting Christ, who turns our valley of trouble into a gateway of hope.

He reads Philippians 4 (The Message) on Paul's learned contentment, and Hosea 2 on God winning back His unfaithful people and transforming the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope, tying both to Christ's work on the cross and His promised return.

It doesn't actually do what I pretended it did. It doesn't really talk to anybody

— Pastor Bill Bush

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.

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill frames it as breaking the aching by choosing to trust instead of lust after what isn't ours.

Application

Resist comparing yourself to others
Stop looking around at how the world operates or what others have; like Peter comparing himself to John in John 21, ask 'what is that to you' and look to Jesus instead.
Rejoice with others and want what you have
Genuinely celebrate when others are blessed instead of feeling bitter, and pay attention to the blessings already in your life instead of fixating on what you lack.
Release what you have to help others
Give your time, spiritual gifts, and first fruits of your money to the church and others now rather than waiting until it's convenient, since withholding them is itself sin, not just a missed extra.
Refocus on what's going to last
Keep your eyes on the eternal instead of the temporary, trusting Christ as the source of contentment rather than chasing possessions, success, or approval that won't satisfy.

Keep going

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