We bring our series to a close by examining the tenth commandment, which is found in the Book of Exodus 20: 17 and reads:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Out of all ten, this commandment is the one that probably confused me the most when I was a child. “Covet” is kind of an odd word, and the meaning isn’t immediately clear. My mom explained it to me in this way – it’s okay to wish you had a toy like your friend’s, but you shouldn’t want it so badly that you’re willing to hurt your friend to get it. To my childlike mind, that was explanation enough, but now that I’m older, I’m able to understand a little bit more what goes into coveting.
First, when we covet, we’re showing jealousy. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to be jealous of what others have—He wants us to feel happy for their good fortune.
Second, when we covet, we’re not showing gratitude for the blessings we do have. Sure, we have a nice car and it’s paid for, but Jim down the street just got a Jaguar. We sure wish we had a Jaguar like Jim’s, but we fail to realize that Jim is going to be paying on that car for a long time.
Third, when we covet, we’re placing material possessions above everything else, including our personal relationships. This is the grown-up equivalent of the answer my mother gave me when I was little—we are in danger of letting our covetous desires ruin our friendships, our marriages, and our relationship with God.
When we covet, we’re refusing to trust that the Lord knows what we need. We are trying to tell Him what we need and expecting it to come our way right now. We feel picked on when it doesn’t immediately appear, when we know full well that the Lord doesn’t work through instant gratification.
Let’s strive to be grateful for our blessings, for we truly have many. The fact that you’re reading this on a computer makes you fortunate indeed – how many people in this world don’t have access to computers, let alone electricity. The Lord will always provide what we need in the time we need it, and if He sees fit to bring us a Jaguar, for a wise purpose in Him, then He will. Although I wouldn’t plan on it, necessarily . . .
Thank you for joining me for this look at the Ten Commandments. The rest of the series is listed below, in case you missed it.