A study of Exodus 20
#10 Don't You Believe It: The Myth of
Greener Grass -- Exodus 20:17
Dr. Ken Trivette shares the following
story. "On the night of November 16, 1930, Mrs. Henrietta Garret, a lonely 81 year
old widow died in her home in Philadelphia, and, unwillingly, started the most fantastic
case of inheritance litigation in history. She had failed to leave a will, or no will was
found to her $17,000,000 estate; a mystery still unsolved. She had expertly handled her
financial affairs since her husbands death in 1895 and therefore many felt that she must
have realized that without an will, her fortune would become involved in legal battles.
Although, Mrs. Garret, at the time of
her death, had only one known relative, a second cousin, and less
than a dozen friends; attempts to
prove relationship to her and claim a part of her estate was made by more than 26,000
persons from 47 states and 29 foreign countries, represented by more than 3,000 lawyers.
In their efforts to obtain her estate, there were those that committed perjury, faked
family records, changed their own names, altered data in Family Bibles and concocted
absurd tales of illegitimacy. As result, 12 were confined, 10 received jail sentences, 2
committed suicide, and 3 were murdered. I wonder how many would have admitted they were
guilty of covetousness?" 1
Today we are considering the tenth
commandment:
"You shall not covet your
neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male
servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your
neighbor’s."
As we study this 10th and final
commandment we will discover that we will learn a great deal about coveting. In fact, we
may learn a great deal more about coveting than we really wish to know.
We are not unlike our mother Eve,
when she lived in Eden and felt deprived. Although we live in the richest country in the
world much of our focus is on what we want that we don't already have. This attitude makes
it difficult and all but impossible to enjoy the riches we do have. We have a rampant
desire for what we don't have or can't have.
Americans, though rich, can be some
of the most dissatisfied people on earth! Our whole prosperity is built on encouraging greed
and need - to get something we don't have, and probably don't need, but we must have.
Advertisers are always sending messages of "You won't be happy until you get our
product", etc.
In Hank Ketcham's comic strip
"Dennis the Menace," Dennis is looking through a catalog saying, "This
catalog's got a lot of toys I didn't even know I wanted." -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000
Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
Unlike the other nine of the
commandments, the ninth commandment does not focus on our actions, but on our thoughts,
our desires, and our feelings. While breaking all the rest of the Commandments has its
origin in the heart and mind of man, they all find their ultimate expression in some type
of physical activity.
This Commandment is different! While
there is evidence of lying, stealing, adultery, murder, disobedience to parents, taking
God's Name in vain, making graven images and having other gods before God, there is
usually little or no evidence of covetousness. As a result, this is a sin that is rarely,
if ever confessed and owned up to. In truth, we are all guilty, we just won't admit it to
ourselves, others or the Lord.
Our culture is constantly telling us
a big lie: "More will satisfy." More of whatever it is we desire, whatever we
set our hearts on - more things, more pleasure, more respect, more leisure time, more
quality time with our loved ones ... you name it. If we can just get more of it, then we
will be satisfied.
Of course, God's advice is different.
We're urged, in the Bible, not to define our self-worth, or find our life's fulfillment in
the things we have or do not have, whether they are concrete or intangible things.
What are the characteristics of
coveting?
Coveting is a strong desire. Coveting is a consuming desire, which
is highly competitive. It is an evil attitude, which will likely lead to an evil act.
Coveting wants more. It is not content with what it already
has, no matter how much that might be.
Coveting wants not only what one does
not have, but what one cannot have.
Coveting wants what is forbidden,
that which belongs to another and which cannot be obtained. Listen to the commandment
again:
"You shall not covet your
neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male
servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your
neighbor’s."
It was possible then as well as now
to buy a neighbor’s house or animal, if he is willing to sell, but it is impossible
to buy a neighbor’s wife. We can covet what we cannot have: that is what our neighbor
either cannot give up or what he will not give up.
Coveting is a desire for which one is
responsible. We are
held accountable for discovering the sin, and for dealing with it. This is necessary
because no other human being can know our thoughts. God thus holds us responsible for what
we determine in our hearts and minds.
Coveting is a selfish desire that to
be satisfied must be gained at the expense of another.
We need to investigate the opposite
of coveting – contentment.
We need not only to strive against
buying into the world's lie that more will satisfy, we also need to strive for contentment
in life.
We need to hold up being content as a
major goal for our lives. However, we need to realize that
contentment is not achieved by accumulating more until we have everything we want.
Biblically speaking, contentment doesn't mean you have no wants, only that you realize God
is sufficiently supplying for your real needs.
Coveting and contentment are
opposites. Coveting is
always looking at what other people have and believing that if you had that, then your
life would be complete. Contentment means you realize that God has already given you all
you really need. It means being satisfied with what you have. And although you may be
wanting for some things in your life, not having them isn't ruining your life.
Overcoming a covetous attitude
depends upon practicing attitudes that will produce contentment. One ingredient for
contentment is to learn to live in the here and now.
Often we're unhappy because we're
fretting over the past. Many of us have a difficult time letting go of past failures.
Vivid memories of past mistakes are played over and over again in our heads, like a
nightmare video. We recriminate ourselves by thoughts of failure to do something different
or having said something different. We accuse ourselves of lack of responsibility and
commitment. We reproach ourselves for not having done the right thing. But this kind of
thinking is only a trap we set for ourselves. When we are caught in the trap of obsessing
over our past mistakes we ruin our here and now.
On the other hand, there is also a
great danger in living only for the future. What I referring to is thinking that our
happiness is coming tomorrow, or next month or next year or at some other time when our
preconditions for happiness have been met.
This is a trap that many churches and
ministers fall into. The church is thinking – "If we can only get a minister
that preaches better (more exciting sermons, shorter sermons, longer sermons), is younger
(older), more sophisticated (less stiff and formal), etc. The minister is thinking –
"If I only had a younger congregation (more mature congregation), more money (have
you ever heard a preacher say his church has too much money – I have!), more workers,
less squeaky wheels, etc.
How many people complain about where
they live. If I could just live in California, Columbus or Kalamazoo – anyplace other
than where I live. The only problem is that there are people who live in California,
Columbus and Kalamazoo who wish they were living someplace else! The truth is that if you
choose to not be happy, you won't be happy no matter where you live, or what day or year
it is, or what minister you have or what church you minister.
Paul said that he had learned to be
content in whatever situation he found himself in. We need to condition ourselves so that
we see ourselves being satisfied right here, right now.
Years ago, Leo Buscaglia assigned a
paper in which his students were asked to respond to the question, "If you had only
five days to live, how would you spend those five days? And with whom?" the responses
were interesting. Some wrote that they would say, "I'm sorry," or "I love
you" to certain people. Others wrote that they would "walk on the beach and
watch a sunrise." Every student got paper back with this note written on it:
"Why don't you do these things today?"
The point is clear. We need to learn
to live in the hear and now, not live regretting all our past mistakes, nor waiting for
perfect conditions in the future. Contentment is for today.
Another ingredient for contentment is
to learn to discern between needs and wants. Paul wrote to Timothy:,
"Since we entered the world
penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our
feet, that's enough" (1 Timothy 6:7, The Message).
It is very easy for all of us to get
our wants confused with our true needs. How many of you have a hard time buying a gift for
a child? Not too difficult is it? Beside there being hundreds of things to buy, there is
usually something they need, and many more things they want. Now let me ask another
question: How difficult is it to buy a gift for your parents or for that matter any older
person? This is a bit more difficult than buying for a child isn’t it? It’s
difficult because many older people already have many things, don’t particularly need
anything and in actuality really don’t want anything.
I feel pretty safe in saying that the
majority of us – in this church -- are in a similar situation. When we really stop to
think about what it is we truly need in life, we realize we already have all we actually
need. Most, although not necessarily everyone, here can probably honestly say that we have
all our real needs met and nearly every want we have is satisfied as well.
If we're going to be content in life,
we need to remind ourselves once in while -and our children, too - that there is a huge
difference between our needs and our wants.
The third step toward contentment is
don't take yourself too seriously.
It is easy to get obsessed with our
indispensability. Mothers think the household won't function without them around. Fathers
think nobody will get the oil changed in the car if they don't see to it. At your job you
think you are the most important person there; and if you're not there, then several
necessary things won't get done. Some people are disappointed when they are gone for a
while from family or job, only to come back and find that things went just fine when they
weren't there.
If we think that everything depends
on us to succeed, then we have what is called a messiah complex. There’s a lot of
pressure on a person who believes that everything is dependent upon him or her. It’s
the kind of pressure that brings discontentment.
When we see our responsibilities in
the proper perspective, we are freed to live a more contented existence. When we realize
that we are neither the center of the universe nor it's foundation, then others are not
forced to conform to our standards, to agree with our opinions, nor defend our positions
when we're not around. If we're going to be content, we have to realize that we are
probably not as important as we might like to believe sometimes.
My goal for this church is to help
develop leaders, values and vision so that no one will be able to detect that I am gone
when I die. I want to be missed, but I don’t want anyone to feel that I am
indispensable. I want this church to grow to function in such a way that it will just keep
on serving the Lord no matter whether there is a minister here or not.
There is one more component to being
content that I'd like to mention today: Covet the right things.
I’ve already pointed out that
"covet" means to have a great desire for something.
We ought to desire to be more like
God. If I may be so
bold as to say it – this is what God "covets" for us! God strongly desires
that we be less selfish and less self-centered. God so much desires for us to see things
from His point of view rather than ours. In short, God desires that we have the mind of
Christ.
We are also to covet what is best for
others.
This is not too hard for us when it
is someone we really love, but more difficult for someone we have some (or a lot of)
animosity toward. When someone reaps the natural consequences of their own poor decisions
or lack of wisdom or given to some sin in life, it is so easy for us to think – or
even say – "They’re getting just what they asked for!" That's our sin
nature – rotten to the core!
When something good happens to
someone else, we shouldn't be jealous, but happy for them. And when something bad happens
to another person, we ought to be sympathetic and think of a way we can help them. We've
been shown grace by God and we're to spread that grace around. We're supposed to be agents
of God's grace. We need to covet the best for others.
The greatest thing can
"covet," is for everyone to know Jesus Christ. How we need to pray that we will
greatly desire that others know the eternal security of knowing Jesus Christ. The problem of being separated from God
has been solved by our Lord Jesus. The worst problem anyone can ever have has already been
taken care of.
You can be reminded daily, if you
take the time to look, that people need Jesus.
They need Him to forgive their sins,
to fix their messed-up lives, to heal their broken hearts, to overcome the cynicism, pain
and bitterness they have. They need Jesus to show them how to be good parents to their
children and to be good husbands and wives. I am firmly convinced that Jesus is the answer
to all the problems our world faces today. And you know, we're given the opportunity to be
ambassadors of Christ – carrying the message of heaven to planet earth!
As Christians we really need to
evaluate our sense of happiness. In our culture we are inundated with
messages that says we MUST have more, or newer, or something we don't already have …
and it is the foundation for the vast amount of dissatisfaction our people have though we
live in a land of great plenty!
Ecclesiastes 4:8 There was a man all alone; he had
neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with
his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving
myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless-- a miserable business! (NIV)
Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 Whoever loves money never has money
enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with hisincome. This too is meaningless.
As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them? (NIV)
Proverbs 23:1-8 When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. Do not wear yourself out to get
rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Do not eat the
food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always
thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not
with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your
compliments. (NIV)
Too often, we spend our lives
comparing ourselves to others as we covet where they are and what they have. Paul writes, "We
do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they
measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not
wise" (2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV).
Bob James of Paint Rock, Texas, had a
problem with stinging ants in his yard. He laid a small circle of poison around their
mound. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and
carry them throughout the colony.
Bob returned later to see how well
the poison was working. Hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into
their mound. Then he noticed a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving
the opposite way away from the mound.
Some smaller, nonstinging ants had
found this "food" and were stealing it from their ant neighbors. Thinking they
were getting the other ants’ treasure, they unwittingly poisoned themselves.
When we see someone with more than we
have, we must beware. The hunger to beg, borrow, or steal our way into what is theirs may
poison us spiritually.
All other commandments forbid overt
sin, but this one reaches to the inner motives, condemning as evil the entertaining of the
thoughts of wrongdoing. Jeremiah 17:9 describes the heart: "The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). And
then in
Psalm 94:11, "The LORD
knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity."
Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's
wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil all the time. (NIV)
Deuteronomy 5:21 "You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his
manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor." (NIV)
Deuteronomy 15:7-10 If there is a poor man among your
brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be
hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend
him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh
year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward
your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and
you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging
heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in
everything you put your hand to. (NIV)
What we covet, whether good or bad
always becomes our goal in life. If we covet the wrong things, we
will have the wrong goals, and we may thus sacrifice things of great value in our effort
to attain what has little ultimate and eternal value.
Matthew 6:19-24 "Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will
be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! "No one can serve
two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (NIV)
Covetousness brings disharmony and
friction.
Covetousness wreck interpersonal
relationships. The
coveting spirit is the root cause of war. More than one friendship has ceased to be
because of the greed of one man to have what another man has. This extends not only to
material possessions but to positions as well.
Jeremiah 22:13-16 "Woe to him who builds his palace
by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor. He says, 'I will build myself a great palace with
spacious upper rooms.' So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates
it in red. "Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father
have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He
defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means
to know me?" declares the LORD. (NIV)
Covetousness is the source of
oppression. It causes
the rich to oppress the poor, and prompts the poor to team up to destroy the rich. Ezekiel
22:12 speaks forthrightly concerning this matter: "In you men accept bribes to
shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors
by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD."
We must have leaders who are not
covetous. Moses'
father-in-law advised Moses to pick leaders from Israel who hated dishonest gain.
Exodus 18:21 But select capable men from all the
people-- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-- and appoint them as
officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. (NIV)
Luke 16:14-15 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard
all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify
yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men
is detestable in God's sight. (NIV)
Paul admonished Timothy to choose
church leaders who weren't in love with dishonest gain.
1 Timothy 3:1-3 Here is a trustworthy saying: If
anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must
be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable,
hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not
quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (NIV)
Paul exemplified this attitude.
Acts 20:33-35 I have not coveted anyone's silver or
gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs
and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of
hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is
more blessed to give than to receive.'" (NIV)
Philippians 3:17-21 Join with others in following my
example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as
enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach,
and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is
in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the
power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (NIV)
Coveting fuels our discontent.
Philippians 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in
need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be
in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in
want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (NIV)
The Hope Health Letter (10/95)
included this story: Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife, two small
children, and his elderly parents in a tiny hut. He tried to be patient and gracious, but
the noise and crowded conditions wore him down. In desperation, he consulted the village
wise man. "Do you have a rooster?" asked the wise man. "Yes," he
replied. "Keep the rooster in the hut with your family, and come see me again next
week." The next week, the man returned and told the wise elder that living conditions
were worse than ever, with the rooster crowing and making a mess of the hut. "Do you
have a cow?" asked the wise elder. The man nodded fearfully. "Take your cow into
the hut as well, and come see me in a week." Over the next several weeks, the man--on
the advice of the wise elder--made room for a goat, two dogs, and his brother's children.
Finally, he could take no more, and in a fit of anger, kicked out all the animals and
guests, leaving only his wife, his children, and his parents. The home suddenly became
spacious and quiet, and everyone lived happily ever after. (Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 1.)
Covetous men must be the sport of
Satan, for their grasping avarice neither lets them enjoy life nor escape from the second
death. James writes, "When
tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged
away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when
it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:13-15 NIV).
Covetous persons are held by their
own greed as surely as beasts with cords, or fish with nets, or men with chains. Coveting
captivates our minds and tears down our convictions. A covetous person becomes
"me-centered." They begin to neglect their life with God, and find no time for
service, Bible reading, and prayer. Covetousness consumes us. Proverbs 27:20 says, "People
will never stop dying and being destroyed, and they will never stop wanting more than they
have."
Sin is bondage. Solomon writes, "A stingy
man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him." (Proverbs 28:21-22 NIV) The devil lies to you when he tells you
a different story. Any of us who have experienced the shackles of sin in our own lives
know what a complicated web of despair we can become entangled in. The Law of the Lord
liberates. It puts us on a straight path. It simplifies life, and gives us clarity of
vision and freedom in spirit.
The covetous heart is never
satisfied.
Covetousness unmasks the greatest dissatisfaction of all when it unmasks our
dissatisfaction with God’s provision for our lives. Bill Hybels comments that when we
covet someone else’s job, spouse, income, house, or car, we are saying, "You’ve
not been fair with me God, I deserve a nicer job, or a more lucrative income, or a bigger
house, or a nicer wife. You’ve short-changed me. You owe me something better,
God!" You may not say those things directly. But a covetous heart is filled with
those thoughts.
The beginning of contentment starts
in God and ends in God.
When Ernest Hemingway took his life, he concluded that a hole in the ground was better
than living life. He said, "Life is 'just a dirty trick, a short journey from
nothingness to nothingness." How said that one dies not knowing the source of life.
Psalms 119:41-48 May your unfailing love come to me, O
LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me,
for I trust in your word. Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my
hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in
freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift
up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees. (NIV)
We must covet God's will for our
lives. The psalmist
writes, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides
you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever" (Psalm 73:25-26).
Proverbs 30:7-10 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither
poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and
disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the
name of my God. "Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and
you will pay for it. (NIV)
Psalms 119:33-40 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your
decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find
delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away
from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to
your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are
good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. (NIV)
Focusing on God's will brings
deliverance.
Habakkuk 2:4-5 "See, he is puffed up; his
desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by his faith--indeed, wine betrays
him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death
is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the
peoples. (NIV)
Proverbs 11:6-7 The righteousness of the upright
delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. When a wicked man dies, his
hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing. (NIV)
We must covet the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 13:44-48 "The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went
and sold all he had and bought that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold
everything he had and bought it. "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net
that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the
fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in
baskets, but threw the bad away. (NIV)
Colossians 3:1-7 Since, then, you have been raised with
Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly
nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life
you once lived. (NIV)
Conclusion:
In its worse sense, coveting is a
serious problem for Americans. We have plenty of help being pushed to want more –
even to want what we don’t really need. It is destructive to people of all ages and
to people in every level of society. It’s difficult to detect the attitude, but it is
easy to see its results – rejection of God, insolence to parents, murders, adultery,
stealing and a myriad of other sins.
In its best sense we do need to covet
to be more like Jesus. We need to covet the best for others. We need to covet salvation
for the lost of this world.
May we be healed of the worst of
coveting so that we may display the best of coveting. It can only be done by Christ. He
can free us from our needless wants and cause us to want what we really need.
Who could speak more realistically
about the illusion of a yuppie value system than Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who suffered
deprivation of all that money can buy? In "The Prison Chronicle" he says,
as few of us can, "Don't be afraid of misfortune and do not yearn after happiness. It
is, after all, all the same. The bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills
the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold, and if hunger and
thirst don't claw at your sides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both
arms work, if both eyes can see, and if both ears can hear, then whom should you envy? And
why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart and
prize above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well." (As reported
in Christianity Today, submitted by Rich Hardison, Tabernacle Church of Norfolk,
Virginia.)
Last modified:
April 18, 2006