Covet Covet Covet

"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."  Exodus 20:17

As always, I think the place to start is at the very beginning - defining the word.  What does covet mean?  According to dictionary.com, the verb "covet" means "to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others."  To me, that's more than simply envy - to covet is to disregard someone else.  In other words, it's to have the attitude that "I'll do whatever it takes to have that!"

Like a lot of women, I love to look at homes and decorations, books and magazines, etc.  I like to drive around and look at homes.  One of these days I'm going to get up the nerve to stop at a house by the reservoir and ask if I can look inside!  I like to go to home shows, parades of homes, open houses . . . are you getting the picture?  I love to see how people represent themselves through their homes.  And I love to represent my family through our home.

I might go somewhere and say, oh that's a great idea.  I have GOT to do that!  So what do you think?  Is that coveting?  Is that envy?  Is that sin?

Maybe I'm hiding my head in the sand, but I don't think so.  I like it when others have something for me to look at!  I don't wish that they didn't have it so that I could.  Coveting involves much more than that.

To covet someone's home, spouse, servant, animals . . . what God is really saying there is that the OBJECT of your desire is more important than anything.  Say I go to my friend's house and all I can see is the stuff she has that I don't.  Then I go home and look around and think about how nice her stuff would like in my house.  If I don't resolve those emotions, can you see what's going to happen?

Folks, God really saved the best for last.  Breaking this commandment truly leads to breaking the others.  People steal because they covet.  People kill because they covet.  People lie because they covet.  Lives are ruined, marriages shattered, churches destroyed, friendships are broken because of not honoring this simple commandment.

And most importantly . . . when you want something else so bad that it's all you can think about, it becomes your god.  It takes over your list.  And obviously, that destroys your relationship with God.  The first and last commandment begin and end at the same place.  When all you think about is what you don't have, you are saying that God is not taking care of you.  You are saying you don't trust Him.  When you plan and scheme to get what you want, you are trying to take control out of God's hands (as if that's possible!).

It's not wrong to want things.  It's not even wrong to feel a twinge of envy once in a while.  Just don't bury those feelings.  You've probably heard me say before, you've got to name it to claim it!  Admit that you are having an envy problem, before it becomes coveting.  Ask God to replace your desires with His, and you'll be able to see a difference in your attitude.

See you tomorrow!