Greed’s Path - Martin Wiles

Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. Genesis 13:11 NLT

Jonathan and his wife began their life together as sharecroppers.

By the world’s standards, Jonathan and Edie barely existed. Poverty barked at their door. But Jonathan had dreams about his own land, his own home, and his own farm equipment. His dream was to sit on the front porch of his house and watch the crops team in fields that belonged to him. 

Jonathan and Edie began by working for a wealthy farmer and by boarding in several rooms of a larger home belonging to someone else. Jonathan began gambling—and he was good at it. Before long, he owned the home and bought small acreages of land. Jonathan’s own land soon surrounded his home. He planted some with money crops and fenced some for cows and hogs. Life was good.

Jonathan’s greed paid off. At his death, he had hundreds of acres of land and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. But he died a miserable death. Along with the gambling, he had assumed the habits of drinking and smoking heavily. These habits led to strokes, one after the other until they finally took his life.

Lot made his choice based on greed also. When the land couldn’t support him and his uncle Abram, Abram offered him first choice of the land. He looked across the Jordan River Valley and selected the most fertile land—leaving his kind uncle the leftovers. His choice soon turned sour when he eventually moved to the wicked city of Sodom.

Greed is natural—a part of the sinful nature we’re born with. No one must teach us how to be greedy. Jonathan and Lot’s choices demonstrate greed perfectly. Remaining greedy, however, is a decision we make—not one we’re forced to live with.

Choosing to remain greedy carries consequences. Greed leads to selfish choices, which are normally unhealthy selections. It can also lead to broken relationships, as it did between Abram and Lot. No one enjoys the company of a greedy person because life is all about them.

Although we’re born greedy, we don’t have to stay gluttonous. God offers deliverance and gives it through a changed nature. Accepting His sacrificial love implants the same in our nature, making us want to open our hands to others rather than live with closed fists.

Don’t let greed be your master. God offers a better way of love.

Tweetable: Is greed causing you to close your hands?

Prayer: Father, cause us to open our hands to others as You have opened Yours to us. 

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