The Ninth Commandment

           Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. (Exodus 20:17, King James Version)

Last week, when writing about the eighth commandment, I mentioned that might be the one most often broken. And now we come to the ninth commandment, and I might have to say the same thing.

So, what is coveting and why is it so bad?

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, New International Version)

According to Luther’s Small Catechism, coveting is a sinful desire for anything that belongs to someone else. It’s more than simply wanting your neighbor’s house, or car, or anything else that belongs to them. It can become an obsession.  

To which you might ask, what is wrong with that? As long as I don’t try to get someone else’s stuff, by stealing or trickery, what’s wrong with being envious of their new boat or vacation home?

Because it will never make you happy. And even if you got all the nice things, everything you wanted, you would still want more.        

So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:8-10, Good News Translation)

I don’t know if you follow the Lottery, but the MegaMillions jackpot for next Tuesday’s drawing currently stands at $790 million. That’s $790,000,000! Which comes to somewhere around $235 million if you take the cash payout and after taxes. What would anyone ever possibly do with that much money? Why would anyone ever want that much money? Would it really make your life better or would it turn your life into a nightmare?

That’s your assignment this week – answer those questions. And then ask yourself if the apostle Paul’s verse below isn’t a better way to go.

And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35, New Living Translation

This would be the only decadent luxury I covet.