Ten Commandments: Respect for Each Other

Be Content With What You’ve Got

Thursday, October 19, 2017

(5) Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 
(6) You shall not murder. 
(7) You shall not commit adultery. 
(8) You shall not steal. 
(9) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
(10) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20:12-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I don’t know about you but I don’t typically use the word “covet” in my daily conversations. So just for the fun of it, let’s look at some synonyms for it. 

covet means to have a longing for and implies strong envious desire. 

desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or determination.

wish sometimes implies a general or transient longing especially for the unattainable.

want specifically suggests a felt need or lack.

crave stresses the force of physical appetite or emotional need.

Consider this quote:

He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. —Mark Twain,  Tom Sawyer,   1876

Don’t we know people like that? I do. My dog, Cassie, couldn’t care less about chewing on a rawhide — unless Benny has one and I tell her she can’t have it. Then she’s all about getting it. And it doesn’t really help if I let her have one. She wants Benny’s. 

It’s all about the chase. Right? That’s covetous thinking to be sure. 

What else does Scripture say about coveting?

The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7:25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God knew exactly why the people couldn’t have idols. Because they would take their eyes off of Him and covet the expensive materials they were made of. They would get things all mixed up. He told them not to have idols and not to covet what they couldn’t have. And they did both. 

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
‭‭James‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I guess the bottom line is that God provides us with everything that we need. But it’s never enough. We want more. Instead we should be content with what we’ve got and be grateful for our abundance. 

Lord, show us when our minds wander and our focus turns from you to other people or things. Draw us back. You alone are worthy of our devotion.