The Gospel Coalition

When I look at the Ten Commandments, I can’t help but feel bad about myself. Once I understand what God expects of us, I feel pretty beat up and very far away. I guess that’s partly the point. The Commandments are here to teach us about God, and because we see how awesome and holy God is, we realize just how far we fall short of his glory. But that’s why we turn to the cross for our forgiveness and to the resurrection for the possibility of actually living this new way.

The first nine commandments are externally observable. You can see if they are being broken. You cannot tell if someone is breaking the 10th commandment. The Tenth commandment is the final blow to our pride and self-righteousness. We know in our hearts that we are guilty of this one.

How easy it is to covet! What if you took your kids to a toy store and told them they could have all they want? What would happen? Do you think they’d ever finish and say, “Enough is enough. I’ve got all I need. I’ve got all I want.” Now, fast forward twenty-five years and put yourself in a mall, or a Home Depot, or a Game Stop or electronics store (or for me a bookstore). Same problem. It’s never enough. 

God is not only concerned with what we do, but with what we are, what we think, how we feel. Our inner feelings and desires are included in the Ten Commandments. It’s not enough to keep some external rules. God wants every part of us, our hearts and minds.

We were created to love God and love people. When we don’t love God as we ought, our desires get all out of whack. And that messes up the way that we are meant to relate to other people. Instead of loving people, we covet their stuff. Instead of desiring our neighbors’ good, we desire their goods for ourselves.

Desire, in itself, is not a bad thing. In fact, Christianity says that desire is good because the world is filled with good things. It’s good to desire good weather, good clothing, good food. The world is filled with things that are meant to be desired. It’s right for a man and woman to desire an intimate relationship within marriage.

Buddhism tells you to annihilate all your desires. The state of non-desire is the best place to be. You are saved and fully free once you no longer desire anything. Christians do not agree. We believe that are desires are God-given, only that we turn those desires in on ourselves and wind up wrecking our lives with them.

The problem isn’t in our desire, it’s in our desire of the wrong things. We violate this commandment whenever we do not sincerely take pleasure in the success of our neighbors and instead desire their possessions, prosperity or position. Desires are contagious. If someone else wants something, we naturally start wanting it too.

 Nelson Rockefeller the millionaire was once asked: “How much money does it take to be happy?” to which he replied “Just a little bit more.” The problem is, the little bit more is never enough.

C.S. Lewis talks about how we as human beings are too easily pleased. We are spending all our time making mudpies in the slums while God is offering us a beautiful vacation at the sea. But we are content with coveting mud. We attempt to be content with things that never satisfy.

One way to know if you are coveting is to see if you are living beyond your means. How much money do you have on the credit card? How much do you spend in relation to your income? When you are living beyond your means, throwing money here and there, money you don’t really have, that’s a good sign that you are ensnared by covetousness.

Coveting distorts our list of priorities and all our values. When you focus on things, your vision of God is dimmed. When you focus on God, your care about things is dimmed.

Snoopy, one time, was sitting on top of his doghouse, and it’s Thanksgiving. He’s bitter in his spirit because Charlie Brown and the family are having this huge feast inside their house, but Snoopy is stuck on his doghouse with only dog food. And he’s kind of grousing about that until this thought occurs to him, and he says to himself, “It could be worse. I could have been born a turkey.”

Whenever you are tempted to covet or to wallow in dissatisfaction, say, “It could be worse.” And then say, “I don’t deserve even this.”

Contentment means wanting what God wants for us, rather than what we want for ourselves. The key is to be so satisfied in God that we are content with whatever he has decided to give us. John Piper says it this way: “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.”

The 10th commandment is about replacing the wrong desire with the correct desire. We are to desire Christ. We are to desire the glory of God. We are to desire heaven. There and there alone will our happiness be found. Jesus came and gave his all, so that we can receive eternal life. The Bible says that though he was in very nature God, he didn’t see his equality with God as something to be grasped, coveted after or abused.

I always look to the Lord’s Supper when I think of this command. We come with open hands. Empty. Nothing to offer. Only to receive the bread and the cup, the blessing of Christ in our lives.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog