July 13, 2022

““You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”“

Exodus 20:17

Here we see the commandment that drove Paul to realize his death in sin:  “sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” So what was different about the commandment prohibiting covetousness that produced this effect? People have speculated, but there is one notion that seems to me to stand out from the rest - covetousness (the wrongful want of gain at the expense of others), only occurs internally, and it often does so apart from any prompting on our part. We walk past anything desirable and get sucked into a downward spiral: “My life would be so much better if I just had….”; I’ll bet they don’t even appreciate their spouse, if my boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife, looked or acted like that I would treat them so much better than they do…” “ Their bathroom remodel is amazing! But I bet they cheated on their taxes, or neglected their kids to get it done! God, I’m such a faithful parent, why can’t I have nice things?” “Look at how well behaved their kids are…I wish we could trade, or that I could somehow start over…” Pretty soon, our humanity is reduced to our desires and we turn into our individual reflections of Gollum, consumed and resentful by craven and unsatisfied wants, when God has graciously given us all we need. Covetousness, at it’s core, is a temptation to nudge God from his throne so that we might occupy his seat, and receive the glory of created things for ourselves. So what is the antidote for this sort of poison? Deliberate gratitude - a sincere reflection on what the Lord has done and provided for us that drives us towards worship. Westminster Shorter Catechism 1 is helpful “Man’s chief end is to enjoy God and glorify him forever.”  The very center of our created humanity exists to extend glory to others (both to God and the people around us), not strip it away from others and bend it towards ourselves.

Lord help us see your hand at work in the provision of food, shelter, and fellowship that we might see your merciful care towards us and turn towards you in gratitude and others with generosity.

-Matt Allhands