Day 5 – Greed

“He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity” Ecclesiastes 5:10

Greed – The selfish and excessive desire for more earthly things. Like money and material goods.

Chawmad (pronounced Khaw-mad) is the Hebrew word for covet, meaning the continuous desire to have more. Not just based on physical possessions, but also power.

The tempting desire causing the fall to greed is born from fear of having nothing. An unsaturated need to have more, to have everything, or to have more than someone else. We feel vulnerable when we have nothing. Or we are cast out of our communities because we have nothing. Can you truly say you will be joyous and happy if you suddenly have nothing? Only the clothes on your body as your only possessions?

Feeling deprived can cause a desperation to fill your life with earthly things. Greed replaces our love for God (the first commandment) and our love towards others (the second commandment) with the excessive desire to love earthly things. We become greedy for blessings and start to ignore God and concentrate on how many possessions (blessings) we can have. Money and selfish habits take the place of human relationships. Never will enough be enough.

Prayer: Father, we live in a generation where consumerism rules all bandwidths to the point where it becomes all-consuming to our souls. When we scroll through social media, we want what we see, from things to other people’s lives. I ask forgiveness for this Lord. I ask forgiveness for all the times I thought that a physical possession would be the joy of my soul when it is only Jesus who can be. Thank You, Jesus, I will always have You even when I am stripped bare with nothing. Amen.