{"id":468,"date":"2016-11-22T17:33:27","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T16:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=468"},"modified":"2016-11-22T17:33:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T16:33:27","slug":"coveting-other-peoples-stuff-exodus-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=468","title":{"rendered":"Coveting Other People’s Stuff Exodus 20:17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of the Ten Commandments are concerned with actions \u2013 the things people should and should not do or say. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus extended the scope of holiness to include what people think as well. But that principle was already there in the Tenth Commandment. Sinful actions and sinful words arise from sinful thoughts. The eighth commandment says, \u201cDo not steal.\u201d But the act of stealing comes from the longing for what is stolen. So the Tenth Commandment is there: \u201cDo not covet.\u201d Coveting, craving, hankering after, longing for, simply means an illegitimate desire for something which belongs to somebody else. Coveting other people\u2019s stuff.
\nExodus 20:17 \u201cYou shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s house. You shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.\u201d
\nThe Message: \u201cNo lusting after your neighbor\u2019s house\u2014or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don\u2019t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor\u2019s.\u201d
\nSinful actions and sinful words spring from sinful thoughts. We see this right from the very beginning when sin entered the world when the devil tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
\nEve took something she was not allowed to have. The disobedient action began with the sinful thought. In the Book of Joshua chapter 7, Achan committed the sin of stealing some of the plunder from the cities the Israelites were capturing. Achan confessed his sin to Joshua like this.
\nJoshua 7 20 Achan replied, \u201cIt is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.\u201d
\nHe saw the stuff. He coveted the stuff. And so he stole the stuff. The sinful action began with the sinful thought. And covetous thoughts can lead people to break other commandments as well. Coveting another man\u2019s wife can lead to adultery \u2013 it did for King David with Bathsheba. And coveting can even lead to murder.
\nJames 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don\u2019t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don\u2019t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.
\nNot just stealing, but quarreling and fighting and even killing. All arising from sinful desires. Starting from coveting other people\u2019s stuff. Sinful actions and sinful words come from evil desires. The apostle Peter gives a similar warning.
\n1 Peter 1 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: \u201cBe holy, because I am holy.\u201d
\nThe battle to live a holy life begins with holy thoughts.
\n1 Peter 2 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
\nAbstain from sinful desires. This tells us that evil desires are something we can choose to abstain from, just as some people choose to abstain from alcohol, or indeed others might need to abstain from chocolate cake. The problem is that abstaining from coveting other people\u2019s stuff is much, much, much harder than abstaining from chocolate cake.
\nExodus 20:17 \u201cYou shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s house. You shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.\u201d
\nThe challenge we all face is that we live in a society which is driven by materialism and consumerism. The world around us tells us we are \u201cborn to shop.\u201d As somebody has put it, \u201cTesco, ergo sum.\u201d \u201cI shop, therefore I am.\u201d From the moment we are born we are told that we don\u2019t only need money and possessions to survive, but we also need lots of money and lots of possessions to have any possibility of being happy. Success is measured by how much stuff a person has. And popularity rests on having lots and lots and lots of stuff.
\nThis materialism is driven by the false god of Consumerism with its twin mantras of freedom of choice and satisfaction guaranteed. And once again the media has its part to play. Films and television fill our heads with images of wealth and prosperity which are out of the reach of most ordinary people. The plots of so many stories are built around people stealing things and too often the heroes we are meant to admire are the ones who get away with their crimes. At the same time the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous keep people worshipping the false gods of Celebrity. Above all we are surrounded everywhere on screens and billboards and shop windows with the hidden persuaders of the advertising industry. With the possible exception of charity appeals and public information clips, every single advertisement is an encouragement to break the Tenth Commandment. The whole purpose of advertising is to lead us to covet other people\u2019s stuff, specifically the stuff the advert is trying to sell to us. Countless images and slogans and soundbites and jingles every day persuading us to want all kinds of things we don\u2019t need: to covet other people\u2019s stuff.
\nThis was all summed up very nicely in a promotional slogan the Freeport Shopping Centre in Braintree used a few years ago.
\n\u201cOurs is a shallow meaningless consumer society where we are defined by our possessions. Enjoy!\u201d
\nThat is so profound and revealing I am going to read it again.
\n\u201cOurs is a shallow meaningless consumer society where we are defined by our possessions. Enjoy!\u201d
\nThat is the world we live in. A world which teaches us and indoctrinates us to covet other people\u2019s stuff. A world which teaches us that greed is not a sin. On the contrary, the world tells us, greed is good. Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street put it like this.
\n\u201cGreed — for lack of a better word — is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms \u2013 greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge \u2013 has marked the upward surge of mankind.
\n30 years on from that film, the Western world has fallen for its gigantic lie that Greed is Good. The truth is entirely the opposite. As we recognised when we thought about the First and Second Commandments, Greed is not good. Greed is idol worship. Money, like Celebrity, is one of the false gods of this generation. And Greed is just another word for coveting other people\u2019s stuff. Longing after things and possessions distracts people from longing after God. Jesus warned about the dangers of greed.
\nLuke 12 15 Then (Jesus) said to them, \u201cWatch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man\u2019s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.\u201d
\nThe Message: \u201cTake care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.\u201d
\n\u2018Beware! Don\u2019t be greedy for what you don\u2019t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own. A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.\u2019
\nJesus went on to tell this parable: 16 \u2026\u201dThe ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, \u2018What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.\u2019
\n18 \u201cThen he said, \u2018This is what I\u2019ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I\u2019ll say to myself, \u201cYou have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.\u201d \u2019
\n20 \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?\u2019
\nGreed is not good! Coveting other people\u2019s stuff leads to all kinds of problems. The Bible does not say, \u201cMoney is the root of all evil.\u201d But it does say this.
\n1 Timothy 6 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
\nIt is the love of money which causes the problems. Coveting other people\u2019s stuff. As Hebrews 13:5 says, Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.
\nDo not covet. The Tenth Commandment is concerned with wealth and possessions. The sinful action starts with the sinful thoughts. And of course this is true of all kinds of other sins as well. In our sermons on murder and adultery I deliberately did not move to what Jesus taught because it is important that we understand what the Old Testament teaches in its own terms and don\u2019t jump immediately to the New Testament. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that evil thoughts are as sinful as evil words and actions.
\nThe Sixth Commandment says, do not murder. But we can break that in our hearts with attitudes of anger.
\nMatthew 5 21 \u201cYou have heard that it was said to the people long ago, \u2018Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.\u2019 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
\nSinful thoughts are as serious as sinful actions. The Seventh Commandment says do not commit adultery, but we can break that commandment in our heart by dwelling on lustful thoughts.
\nMatthew 5 27 \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018Do not commit adultery.\u2019 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
\nSin is that serious. And sinful thoughts are as serious as sinful actions. The sixth Commandment \u2013 murder. The seventh Commandment \u2013 adultery. And the eighth Commandment, \u201cyou shall not steal\u201d, which prompts the Tenth, \u201cDo not Covet\u201d.
\nThe Letter of James explains how temptation works like this.
\nJames 1 13 When tempted, no one should say, \u201cGod is tempting me.\u201d For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
\nSo temptation begins with evil desires and sinful thoughts. If we want to live holy lives, the challenge is not to give in to those evil desires or sinful thoughts. The first impulse is not necessarily a sin. But dwelling on a sinful thought so that it becomes a sinful desire is asking for trouble. Martin Luther once said, \u201cYou can\u2019t stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair.\u201d
\nThe old saying is true. \u201cSow a thought, you reap an action. Sow an action, you reap a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap a destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we are serious about living holy lives and resisting temptation we need to unlearn everything the world has taught us. We need to get rid of any ideas that greed is good or that we need more and more stuff in order to be happy. We need to stop coveting other people\u2019s stuff. We need a complete change of mind. Somebody wrote this.
\n\u201cThe mind is a garden that could be cultivated to produce the harvest that we desire.
\nThe mind is a workshop where the important decisions of life and eternity are made.
\nThe mind is an armoury where we forge the weapons for our victory or our destruction.
\nThe mind is a battlefield where all the decisive battles of life are won or lost.\u201d
\nRomans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God\u2014this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God\u2019s will is\u2014his good, pleasing and perfect will.
\nYour mind matters! Our minds need to be renewed.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t let the world around squeeze you into its own mould, but let God remould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.\u201d (Romans 12:2 in J.B.Phillips)
\nThere\u2019s an old saying full of wisdom. \u201cYou aren\u2019t what you think you are, but what you think \u2013 you are!\u201d Our minds need to be renewed.
\nLast week I introduced you to a term from the world of computing. WYSIWYG. What you see is what you get. God wants us to be WYSIWYG Christians, transparently honest. Let me bring you another word from that world which I used time and time again when students brought me the computer programs they had written. GIGO. GIGO stands for Garbage In \u2013 Garbage Out. If you put nonsense into a computer, you get nonsense out. And the same is true of our minds. Garbage In \u2013 Garbage Out. If we are serious about resisting temptations and sinful desires we need to be very vigilant about what we allow into our minds. There are two sides to this.
\nKEEP THE RUBBISH OUT
\nWe need to \u201cunlearn\u201d so many of the things society has taught us from a very young age.
\nEphesians 4 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
\nIf we want to avoid falling into sin we need to get rid of the deceitful desires of our old self: desires fed by the pressures of television and advertising and celebrity culture. Our Christian standards can so easily be eroded by rubbish we read and watch and listen to. In particular, most people treat their televisions a bit like some people treat a pet cat \u2013 you pay it attention when you want to and ignore it for the rest of the time. Except a television costs more than a pet cat of course. Perhaps we should treat our television more like a pet poisonous snake, or a pet crocodile! Handle carefully, keep at arm\u2019s length and always stay vigilant in case it strikes out and delivers a fatal bite. Garbage In \u2013 Garbage Out. Keep the rubbish out. And,
\nTHINK ON GOOD THINGS
\nPhilippians 4 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.
\nWe need to fill our minds with God\u2019s truth instead of the lies of the media. Sinful actions begin with sinful desires. Keep the rubbish out. Think on good things. We need to take the Tenth Commandment seriously. Don\u2019t covet other people\u2019s stuff!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the Ten Commandments are concerned with actions \u2013 the things people should and should not do or say. In the Sermon on…<\/span><\/p>\n

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