Bible Readings and Devotion for October 28, 2020
Here are the references for the readings. Please look these up in your print Bible, your smartphone app Bible, or your online Bible:
Devotion for October 28, 2020
By Pastor David Tinker
While using an app on my iPhone recently I saw an advertisement for a new smartphone based game. It was called, “Covet Fashion.” It seems to be a game in which a player seeks to create and manipulate images of clothing models. The main thing which caught my attention was that name, “Covet.” This has not been a word which comes across as positive. This is especially in regard to our faith.
Today in our 2nd reading we read some warnings and strong words from James about how we live. He is concerned about the conflicts between the people in the church. James asks, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?” James saw that people in the church were killing others to get their money or things. Some others had stirred up conflict in the church and community because they refused to be content with God’s provision. In this passage James teaches them, and us, that God will provide what you need.
Coveting, which is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, is the unwise or unhealthy desire for that which belongs to another. Coveting is founded in not trusting in the one true God. It leads to the breaking of other commandments. It also breaks the positive connections in the community of believers and can lead us away from living out God’s purposes for our lives. When we covet, we are telling God that we don’t appreciate what he has provided, and that we don’t trust him to provide what we truly need.
Here is what Martin Luther notes in the Small Catechism about coveting the possessions of others:
The Ninth Commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
What is this?
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not try to trick our neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves by claiming to have a legal right to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs.
Use this to ponder in what ways you can address your attitudes and actions related to that which belongs to others.
Prayer
God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grant us, we pray, to be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. That which we know not, reveal; that which is wanting in us, fill up; that which we know, confirm; and keep us blameless in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Prayer from Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Copyright © 2020 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.
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