Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
In today’s busy world, people everywhere are trying hard to get all they can. They live as though that is their goal in life.
The problem with this is three-fold. First, life is short, and death will come one day. Second, you cannot take it with you. Things can never satisfy – there is always a desire for more.
The third thing is that it does not help you prepare for Heaven. It does not take God into consideration nor what He expects of every human being – that is found in the first commandment (“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” – don’t make riches and things your god).
There will be an accounting before God for every sin. Only salvation through Jesus Christ can remove that sin, and He desires you to live for Him once you are saved.
Jesus said, in Luke 12:15: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” The joyous kind of life God gives to His born-again children is not based on how much you possess. Rather, He alone is the believer’s joy and having a close relationship with Him.
The tenth commandment pretty much rules out desiring to be like your neighbor and having what they have – or that influencer, popular individual, or movie star, etc. Instead, the Christian should aim to be like Christ and to lay up riches in Heaven through careful obedience to His Word.
The Apostle Paul tells us through the Holy Spirit, that covetousness is the same as idolatry in God’s eyes: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
We are also warned not to be guilty of covetousness. Ephesians 5:3 says: “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.”
Have you been covetous? Why not confess it to God right now and ask Him to help you seek the eternal riches.