Covetousness: The Soul—An Immortal Guest

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“Two things a master commits to his servant’s care,” said one, “the child and the child’s clothes.” It will be a poor excuse for the servant to say at His master’s return:
“Sir, here are all the child’s clothes, neat and clean, but the child is lost!”
Much so with the account that many will give to God of their souls and bodies at the great day: “Lord, here is my body; I was very grateful for it. I neglected nothing that belonged to its content and welfare; but for my soul, that is lost, and cast away forever. I took little care and thought about it.—Flavel.


Is this silly, laughing, trifling animal, born for eternity? Is this he that was made an incorruptible picture of the God of glory? He that was born to live with angels and arch-angels and all the company of Heaven? And is it thus that he is preparing to meet Him that is coming in the clouds of Heaven? What a fool, what a block-head, what a madman is he that forgets the very end of His creation!—John Wesley.

The soul on earth is an immortal guest,
Condemned to starve at an unreal feast:
A spark, which upwards tends by nature’s course;
A stream, diverted from its parent source;
A drop, dissevered from the boundless sea;
A moment, parted from eternity;
A pilgrim, panting for the rest to come;
An exile, anxious for his native home.
—Hannah More.

These quotations are taken from the book Covetousness, written and compiled by Lillian Harvey and published by Harvey Christian Publishers. It is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.

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Covetousness: A Ministerial Sin

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In the book, Covetousness, written and compiled by Lillian Harvey, many aspects of the sin, Covetousness, are covered. In the following quotation, a former editor of the magazine, The Wesleyan Methodist, courageously states that this is a sin which is not uncommon among professed servants of God:

“It influences church legislation. It speaks out when the minister is considering a call to a new field. It gives direction as to the choice of sermon themes and throws a blanket of distrust over all benevolent deeds.

“If there is an inordinate desire for ease, for the smooth road, for the secluded spot where the pounding waves never reach, beware! Covetousness is lurking near.

“Covetousness needs to be recognized, confessed, and repudiated. The only sovereign remedy is to give Christ the preeminence in our hearts; for then shall we value all temporal things in comparison to Him. He has made adequate provision for cleansing the heart from the ‘dry rot’ of covetousness.
—Wesleyan Methodist.

Covetousness is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their online Christian bookstore.

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Are Your Assets Frozen?

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We are not store-rooms, but channels,
We are not cisterns, but springs,
Passing our benefits onward,
Fitting our blessings with wings;
Letting the water flow outward
To spread o’er the desert forlorn;
Sharing our bread with our brothers,
Our comfort with those who mourn.
—Wesleyan Methodist

Are your assets frozen assets? A little boy once had a piggy bank, and he was found putting water into the bank. Upon being asked what he was doing he said, “I’m going to put it into the freezer, and then my money will be safe.”

Let me hold lightly things of this earth; Transient treasures, what are they worth? Moths can corrupt them, rust can decay,
All their bright beauty fades in a day.
Let me hold lightly temporal things—
I, who am deathless, I, who wear wings!
Let me hold fast, Lord, things of the skies; Quicken my vision, open my eyes!
Show me Thy riches, glory and grace, Boundless as time is, endless as space. . . .
Let me hold lightly things that are mine— Lord, Thou dost give me all that is Thine!
— Martha S. Nicholson

All of the above quotations are taken from the book Covetousness, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey and published by Harvey Christian Publishers. It is available in their online Christian Bookstore.

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Covetousness: The Scandal of Christianity

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Exod. 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

Most Christians can quote this scripture off by heart, well aware that it is one of the Ten Commandments. Yet it is, perhaps, one of the commandments most frequently broken.

“There is a sin which a Catholic priest once declared that no one had ever confessed to him,” writes Samuel Logan Brengle, “a sin so deadly that the wrath of God comes upon men because of it; a sin so common that probably everybody has at some time been guilty of it; a sin so gross in the sight of God as to be classed with whoremongery, idolatry, murder, and such like; a sin so subtle that men most guilty of it seem to be most unconscious of it; a sin that has led to the ruin of homes, to the doom of cities, the downfall of kings, the overthrow of empires, the collapse of civilizations, the damnation of an apostle, of ministers of the Gospel and of millions of less conspicuous men. Men in the highest and most sacred positions of trust, and enjoying the most unlimited confidence of their fellow-men, have under the spell of this sin wrecked their good names, and have brought shame to their families, and misfortune, want, and woe to their fellows.”

This is quotation is taken from the book Covetousness, written and compiled by Lillian Harvey. It is published by Harvey Christian Publishers and is available in their Online Christian Bookstore.

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