Is there something you have longed for and have been unable to acquire? Have you longed after another person? Have you desired the possessions of someone you knew—a relative or neighbor?
Our culture tells us to go acquire more. It tells us we deserve it, whether we do or not. There are huge advertising campaigns based solely on the premise of telling us we need more.
But look at what God tells us. He says we are not to covet what someone else has. We may want to take this list as being explicit. However, if we did, we would be mistaken. The list in today’s passage is merely a spattering of the more common items we may covet.
No, God does not want us to desire anything anyone else has. Why? God wants us to be satisfied with what he has determined is best for us. That may mean we have less than some and more than others.
God has blessed each of us individually. He has blessed us with a purpose in mind. As we accept his blessing to be what is best, we do not desire to have what others have but cherish what we have as a blessing from God.
By forgoing covetousness, we remove the danger of seeking to acquire what we desire by mischievous means. We eliminate the possibility we will sin to gain what we do not have. We trust God.
I pray we all trust that God knows what is best for us. I pray we do not covet what someone else has. I pray each one of us counts what we have as a blessing from God. Do not covet. Be satisfied. Be content. Trust God. God has blessed you. God knows best.
Exodus 20:13-17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Marty Pressey 