An American business magnate was once asked “how much money is enough?” His answer? “Just a little bit more.” That attitude exists all through our society, from young to old, rich to poor. More things, more money, what my neighbour has; the supposed answer to all our ills.
In this spirit of consumerism and desiring what others have that we do not, the Tenth Commandment hits like a hammer. Instead of sinfully desiring in our hearts what God has not given to us, we are called to contentment with the possessions we have, and instead to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness over the passing things of this age.
The first four commandments dealt with our relationship with God, the next five with our external relationships with each other (and the sinful heart issues that affect our external acts). The Tenth Commandment cuts straight to the heart, speaking to heart inclinations and desires which can lead us to break many of the other commandments.
In the Tenth Commandment, recorded in Exodus 20:17, God commands us not to “covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
To covet is to desire something that does not belong to us, at the time appointed for us to have it. It is an inward sinful desire springing from the heart, even if never followed through by the act. Not all desire is wrong, but to desire something which someone else has and lack willingness or contentment to wait for it (or accept the possibility it may not arrive) is covetousness.
The coveting which God forbids in this commandment is extremely broad, not confined to certain types of things. It forbids desiring property, possessions, people, or anything which belongs to someone else; not to you. It goes beyond the aspiration to own a house, or a boat, or to marry; to wanting his house, her boat, or that person’s spouse as your own.
The problem with the sin of covetousness is that it so frequently leads to outward sinful acts which violate the other commandments. For instance, a desire for John’s laptop may lead you to steal his laptop, instead of saving for your own laptop or accepting you cannot afford one right now.
We see this example play out in Scripture repeatedly. Cain jealously desired God’s acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice, and murder resulted (Gen. 4).
King David desired the wife of one of his finest, most loyal soldiers. He desired, and he took, committing adultery. Then he killed Uriah so he could marry Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). The Sixth and Seventh Commandments explicitly violated (and more besides), because of violating the Tenth.
King Ahab wanted his neighbour’s vineyard for a vegetable patch, and so his evil wife had Naboth killed (Sixth Commandment) based on a lie (Ninth Commandment). Sinful evil desire, outward sinful acts (1 Kings 21).
Like the other commandments, covetousness is no more acceptable to God now than before. Jesus explicitly mentions coveting as the fruit of a sinful heart (Mark 7:20-22), defiling a person. The Apostle Paul uses covetousness as an example of how the Tenth Commandment ultimately revealed to himself his own sinfulness (Rom. 7:7-13). In Ephesians, Paul identifies covetousness as one of a number of sins which is inconsistent with membership in the Kingdom of God (Eph 5:5).
So if we must put off covetousness, what should we put on? The answer according to Scripture is contentment “with our lot.” Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6), resting in what God has given us for now rather than desiring what he has not given us… which we cannot take with us anyway.
As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.” We can pursue what God has not chosen to give us, but ultimately we will only find contentment with what God has given us. Seeking what is not ours only leads to emptiness.
That does not mean it will be easy. Seeking contentment in God means recognising that some of the good things we desire, whether that is a material blessing or the blessing of a loving companion, may not in God’s wisdom ever arrive for us. Contentment with what God has given does not mean a lack of sadness over what sin deprives us of, but joy in God despite seasons or fields of failure.
Instead of seeking what God has not chosen to give us, whether just for now or perhaps not in our lifetime, we should set our hearts on the Kingdom of God and treasures in heaven, which will not rust or fade away (Matt. 6:19-21). God has richly blessed us in the heavenly places through salvation in Jesus Christ. If God is lavish with what we need spiritually, he does not deprive us of the material things we truly need. Jesus is everything we need to find true contentment.
