You must not covet. . . . You must not covet.
Exodus 20:17
Having too much is rarely a recipe for peace, though it’s tempting to think so. When you have lots of stuff, you need to spend lots of time paying for it and lots of time taking care of it.
Our many possessions can tie us down, making it difficult to respond to opportunities God gives. Oddly, having too much often makes us want to have even more.
In his classic book on the Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel points out that when modern people want to emphasize something in print, we often underline or italicize words.
The Bible and other forms of ancient literature used a different tactic—repeating words within the text, as if to say, “Listen and listen up!” Deuteronomy 16:20, for instance, says, “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (nrsv). Isaiah 40:1 declares, “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God.”
Heschel points out that only one of the Ten Commandments is proclaimed twice, and that’s the last one, which goes like this: “Do not covet your neighbor’s house.
Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns” (Exodus 20:17).
By emphasizing the command, God puts a double fence around our tendency to want more, especially if the more that we want belongs to someone else.
You may not feel wealthy compared to those around you, but most of us who are living in the affluent West are rich compared to the rest of the world.
No matter how much we have, all of us can fall into the temptation of coveting what we don’t have. If you find yourself stressed out by everything you own, ask God for help and wisdom to begin paring things down.
Then listen and listen up so you can experience more of God’s peace in your life!
Prayer 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💛
Father, I have so many things I don’t need and don’t even use. Give me the desire to live a life of greater simplicity.
Shalom.