SEP 18

Exodus 20:17
Memorise Exodus 20:17
“I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

The tenth commandment states that “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, not his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s”. This sin described here is that of blameworthy yearning or longing for things owned by others.

This last and final commandment is perhaps the most difficult of all the commandments to keep. This is because it is primarily a sin of the heart, and one that is completely encouraged by the world. In fact, most of the world’s commercial and service sectors are fuelled by this human tendency to covet – to want more than what they have. Furthermore, this final commandment is very wide reaching in terms of its application, and really covers many aspects of our lives. There is no limit to the various things that we would covet after. Within the statement of the commandment itself is a very wide ranging list of things we should not covet – another man’s property, wife, hired help, livestock, possessions, and basically anything that your neighbour has and you don’t.

If you think about it, we covet after pretty much anything and everything. We seem to have this perverse desire to want things that are not ours. This is the allure of the forbidden fruit, where we seem to have an obsession to have the things that are most unattainable. Especially in this materialistic day and age that we live in, the world is constantly egging us on to acquire more and more! We are taught never to be content, but to constantly be on the chase for better things, of bigger houses and faster cars. For teens, it is to keep up with the latest trends and fashions, to buy the latest gadgets, get the best grades, and have the best looks.

The result of this is a mind-set that is constantly coveting after things that we don’t have, and is never content with the things that we have. Because everyone is in this frame of mind, and because people around us are constantly talking about these things, we don’t realise how wrong it is to covet. We must first acknowledge that covetousness is indeed a sin, and then ask the Lord to help us overcome it.

Thought: Covetousness is a serious but subtle sin.
Prayer: Lord, help me to understand the severity of this sin of covetousness, and teach me how I can overcome it.