The Desire of the Eyes
by Michelle Stace
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant,
nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors.”
The
10th commandment -
Coveting is envy. It is desiring something another has. It is discontent and
ill will over another’s advantages, possessions, etc. Coveting or envy is spoken
of frequently in Scripture and far too often is a motivating factor in our actions.
A characteristic of the sin nature is that we are rarely content with what we have
and often desire what someone else has. In a nutshell, coveting is lust. It was one
of the first sins in the garden of Eden. “And the woman saw that the tree was good
for food and that it was pleasant (a desire) to the eyes . . . “ Gen 3:6 The fruit
Eve coveted was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in which God had
forbidden them to eat from. This one sin caused the fall of all mankind.
Coveting
is a poison that seeps and spreads into everything we do. As the Scripture says,
it causes strife, turmoil and division. Because of envy we manipulate people and
circumstances to our benefit. How evil it is when someone who loves and trusts you
is taken advantage of because of your envy of them. Have you seen this in yourself?
I detest this in myself and long for the day when it is completely overcome.
The
root of coveting is self. Self wants the best, it wants to be exalted and pandered
to and petted. It is a monster that is never content. It is like a bottomless pit
that never fills up. God help us! And He does! In Him only is fullness and contentment.
In Him only is it possible to be humble, to truly place others first, and to truly
be happy for another’s success or advantages.
Did you know that when you break
the commandment forbidding coveting, you are breaking other commandments as well? I
will show you how. The first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me.” Whatever we covet, whether it be money, prestige, possessions or a person,
it becomes our primary focus. It becomes an obsession -
The second
command forbids idol worship: “. . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them . . . “ When coveting something, one basically worships it. They are enslaved
by that particular thing or desire. They “serve” it in that they will do most anything
for what they covet.
Even the 4th commandment -
The seventh commandment forbids adultery. Adultery
is unfaithfulness. Are we being faithful to our Heavenly Bridegroom if we are coveting?
Absolutely not. We are loving something else more than Him. We are setting our best
affections on other than Him.
“Thou shalt not steal” is the next commandment.
When one desires what belongs to another it is stealing. If you accept recognition
for something, that someone else deserves, it is stealing. We steal from God Himself
when we do not recognize that all we have belongs to Him. We steal from God when
we take credit for the talents and abilities He has given us.
When one covets
or is envious, what does this say to the Father? It tells Him that we are dissatisfied,
discontent, ungrateful. It tells Him that we think we know better than He does what
we should have. It tells Him that we value our desires more than we value Him. It
tells Him that we have put self above Him. This is utterly shameful. For God gives
us what He knows is best for us and He will never give us more of anything if we
do not use what we already have for His glory. Learn to be grateful for the gifts
God has given you. Accept them humbly as a pauper would a piece of bread. For you
are a sinner deserving of nothing. As you do this you will soon see that God has
given you far more than you realize.
Sin is extremely serious. Just look at
how many commandments are broken by supposedly committing one sin! See how tied together
God’s word is. It isn’t “just one little sin” you are committing. Here is a sobering
thought . . .sin is so unacceptable and so heinous to our most holy Father that those
who are not His own will be eternally punished. Think about that awhile. Here is
another thought . . .there is no thing or act in all of God’s glorious creation that
will atone for sin. It took the Son of God, Christ Jesus, to leave His heavenly abode.
He came to this earth and placed Himself in the hands of sinners and allowed Himself
to be THE sacrifice for sin. Do we take sin too lightly? Most definitely! Does God?
Absolutely not! Take heed. You can think as you like about sin, but it will not change
the truth of Scripture.