“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s,” Exodus 20:17.
The word ‘covet’ means to ‘find something pleasing and there desiring to have for yourself”.
1. What is required here is for us to be content with what we have.
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” Hebrews 13:5. If we believe that our portion in life has been ordained, planned of God, we should be content with it. Above all we have Him at all times!
True Christian love will not covet and envy nor complain about what we have. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth,” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6.
2. Please notice that this sin is widespread.
Notice the many things that are mentioned that we must not covet. This s a common sin, found throughout society. Many things are the subject of coveting. It is a sin that lies at the heart of many other sins. Many move from coveting that which is not theirs to seeking to steal the thing coveted and to lie and to even kill in order to have that which belongs to someone else but which they see as desirable and wish to have by any means.
3. It is a sin which has been the cause of great defiance of God.
Many times Israel were unhappy with the ways of God,THE GOLDEN RULE - 10 Commandments, Pt 12 the portion He gave them and murmured again God. This is the result of ‘coveting’ something other than what God gave them.
“Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come,” 1 Corinthians 10:9-11.
A heavy price was paid by those who coveted after that which the Lord had not given them, grumbling and complaining about what He had given them!
4. So serious is this sin that we must slay it.
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,” Colossians 3:5. We must not allow it to lie in our hearts!