Exodus 20:17 - The Final Point on our Spiritual Measuring Stick

Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or his maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

In our final look at the 10 Commandments, we come to this final commandment. If there is one commandment that everyone has broken it is this. In these 10 Commandments, this is the only one that requires no action, but is all about thought and feeling. Coveting, desiring something inordinately or wishing for something earnestly is all about stuff we don't have. It can be as simple as wanting a tool or object that someone else has, whether it is a pen, binder, TV, or even an action figure. It can also be as complex as wanting something intangible, such as the respect of others, or a relationship that looks to be better than our own. Coveting is all thought, emotions, and feelings. Covetousness is something that we all have at one point or another as well and it starts when we are children and want a toy that another child is playing with. When we look at it, really look, coveting stems from a lack of contentment with what we have and where we are in life.

With what Jesus tells us, we know that everything boils down to thought, which is why Jesus managed to succinctly give the 10 Commandments in two phrases "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27)  And then in Matthew 15:19, we are told that "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Sin, unrighteousnesses, callousness, and what-all are all heart based, not action based problems in our lives. And it is a heart issue that we must address when we find ourselves falling short.  When we look at our lives in-depth and compare ourselves to the standard that Christ has set for us then we see how short we come, but we can also see how far we have come from our previous lives, and the previous times where we have really taken the time to examine ourselves.

This week, why don't we take what we have learned and put into practice. This in-depth look we have been taking of ourselves, comparing ourselves to these 10 Commandments, has shown us results some of which we do not really enjoy. Lets see what we can do to change these things in our lives and live more glorifyingly to God.

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before His feet,
For none can perish there.


Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.
                                ^{John Newton, 1779.}