GOD’S MARRIAGE COVENANT – BE CONTENT

“You shall not covet…” Exodus 20:17

The tenth commandment creates a problem for us. All the other commandments are measurable and observable, but the last one focuses on our hearts. Only God can see what goes on in our hearts. One rabbi said that the Tenth Commandment was not a command but a reward.  If you have measured up to the other nine, you will be so content that you will have no need to covet. It’s a matter of the heart.

The Bible teaches us that there are three levels to sin: iniquity, sin and transgression. In the Hebrew, the word “iniquity” means, “Whatever your eye hooks to, multiplies.” This is a principle that speaks of our whole life.  Whatever we focus on dominates us. Sin begins in the heart, lusting after things that we focus on.

Sin is a step beyond iniquity. We are enticed by lust for what the eye has hooked to. This leads on to the third level, transgression, which is crossing the boundary into doing what God has forbidden. In the Old Testament you could not be punished for iniquity or sin but only for transgressing the law.

“…The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. Isaiah gives us a picture of God’s grace which goes all the way back to what started in our heart. God’s standards also go back to what is in our hearts.  According to Deut 6:10-12, it is critical that we acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God and that we should be content with it. The best life is appreciating what God has given us instead of wanting what God has given some else.

God has given us each an inheritance. We need to ask God to show us what our boundaries are, not ask for more. We need to walk into what God has already given us. Contentment is something that cannot be bought.

If coveting is seeing some else’s life and wanting it, not coveting is being content with our own lives. To be content with our own life, we need to find our being in God. When we buy into the best life that God has given us, there are no slavedrivers. We are living with dignity, and we are treating others with dignity, and showing the world what God is like. It leaves us in a state of contentment which it is a reward and keeps us from a life of always wanting more.

To covet is to turn our backs on what God has given us and walk towards what God has given someone else.  Then we sit around and wonder why we can’t find our purpose. How awesome would it be if we could be content with all the unimaginable blessing God has showered on us. We have a choice. We can either be content with God’s goodness and kindness or have a life of endless jealousy, pressure, anxiety, and slavedrivers.