The Big Ten - Whatcha Want?

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

We have come a long way through the Ten Commandments. We first recognize where they come from; the Ten Commandments are not just arbitrary rules; they are God’s handiwork to help us follow Him, not just outwardly, but in our hearts and attitudes as well.

The last several commandments deal with how to get along with others, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not lie. These deal with our actions, but Jesus’ words show that they also deal with our hearts. One does not have to murder to be guilty; Jesus expands the concept of murder to include hatred. One does not have to commit adultery to be guilty, Jesus expands the concept to include lust. But the commandments themselves deal with specific actions. 

Now we get to the last commandment, you shall not covet. This commandment, unlike the previous ones, is completely inward. It does not necessarily involve an outward action. But this should not surprise us by this time, because although man is concerned with outward appearances, God looks at the heart. 

God prohibits coveting. This brings up a few questions. The first question is: what does it mean to covet? The second question is why is this wrong?

What does it mean to covet? The Hebrew word is chamad, which can carry the meaning of envy or desire, but it also can mean something that is “pleasant.” So, for example, when God created the trees and plants, the words that were used to describe them were “pleasant to the sight and good for food.” That “pleasant” is the same word for covet. So basically what it means is that we see something pleasant, but it is something we don’t have, and we want it. Now, that in itself is not necessarily bad. In fact, there are times when the Bible even uses the word “covet” in a positive sense. For example, we should “covet” the greater Spiritual Gifts. We see them as pleasant, and we want them. But it goes to motive. What is a spiritual gift for? To uplift the believers and to edify the church. In short, to glorify God. But the examples God uses here in the commandment are the neighbor’s house, the neighbor’s wife, servant, ox, donkey, or anything else belonging to the neighbor.

Why would we covet these things? We see someone else with something we want. We begin to believe that our lives would be better off if only we had whatever it is that we see them with. In fact, we go beyond just wanting these things. Now we need them. We N E E E D them! We can’t live without them. You can see why the Bible in Ephesians 5:5. 1 Corinthians 10:6-7, Colossians 3:5 consistently equates coveting with idolatry. Idolatry, if you remember, is putting anything else in the place where only God belongs. God created us to enjoy His presence, but we cannot adequately enjoy his presence when we are looking to everything else to satisfy our longings.

I had a friend who went visited a village in Kenya where top runners train. It was 50 km away from the nearest city, and he had to find a taxi or find a lift to get there from the bus. When he got there, he found a community with no TV, no electricity, no running water, pit latrines, simple shacks for living accommodations. In short, the community was set up with no distractions from the main point: training for long distance running. The athletes can focus on one thing.

Often we get distracted from our “one thing” — we get distracted by what other people have, what we wish we had, what we need. We find ourselves thinking, “If only I had [this or that], I would be satisfied and I wouldn’t need anything else.” 

The truth is that nothing else will satisfy. No matter how much you get, you will never be satisfied with anything short of God Himself.

I love this quote from the philosopher Jean Vanier, who established an international organization for people with intellectual disabilities. 

“Envy comes from people's ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.”

God gave every one of us gifts. Envy and covetousness completely ignores that God has made each of us on purpose, with a purpose. When we covet, we are saying, “God isn’t sufficient. God hasn’t given me enough.”

I think we all understand and know in our minds that God doesn’t want us to covet. But what do we do about it? Because from what I’ve seen, most people do covet, even Christians. Thankfully, we can find the “secret” that works against coveting.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi. We know it as the book of Philippians. He wrote this letter while in prison in Rome, shortly before he was executed. In Philippians 4:11b-13 he writes: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. You see, the opposite of coveting, the opposite of envy, is certainly contentedness. That means he is happy. He is fine. He doesn’t need anything more or anything less. 

He goes on: 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. 

What is his secret? What is it that keeps him going in any and every situation, whether he has enough or not enough? The secret is simply this: I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Complete trust in God is the key. Trust that God has given you enough. Trust that God Himself is enough.

And if God is enough, then every Christian will bear fruit. Proverbs 12:12 tells us that The wicked covet the catch of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit. The wicked wish they had what others have gotten, even by ill gain. But the root of the righteous yields fruit. What is the root of the righteous? We are rooted firmly in God, who Paul describes this way a few verses down from what we read in Philippians 4: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19).