A guy lost his hat and wanted to get another one…by stealing. He figured the best place was church since there are plenty of people and plenty of hats hanging on the back racks. But he was captivated by the sermon and decided to listen in. After the sermon, he approached the minister and said, "You know, I came here to steal a hat. But I heard you preach about the 10 Commandments and I changed my mind." "That's nice to hear," said the minister. "Yes, once you got to "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife," I remembered where I forgot my hat.”
The word of God has a way of triggering us to think about where we need to go. It may not help you find your hat, but it will help you wrap your head around what you should want; better yet, how you should want. Fill in the blank “I want______.” The rules are you can put anything in the blank: a car, that great relationship, that perfect job. You name it. It’s not strange to think about what you want these days. There are hundreds of “make a wish list” websites to help you do just that. So, what do you want? Be careful: wanting can lead to sin. Wanting is not a sin. How you want is.
That’s why God gave us the 10th and final commandment of Commandgram—NC—no coveting. The tenth commandment says “Thou shall not covet.” If what you want belongs to someone else and you are willing to do anything to get it, by any means necessary, including going against God to get it, you’ve just crossed over from wanting to coveting. So, you might want to revise your “I want” list because the wrong way to want can cause a great deal of trouble. You might be coveting now. If you are willing to go gangster to get that title, to get that “boo”, to get that church that you want that is someone else’s, you are coveting. Just how does coveting work?
Exodus 20:17 and the lives of Eve, Achan and David are links to Commandgram ten— “NC”—no coveting.
We will see in Exodus 20:17 and in the lives of these three that coveting is a progression of obsession: First, you see it with your eyes. Next, you want it in your heart. Then, you take it with your hands. Text NC— “No covet” to a friend you know who has a “want” problem. They want what they want no matter what. But it does matter to God. NC is God’s of way saying in today’s text lingo: DGT—don’t go there. If you do, you make—not the “Most-Wanted” list—but you make the “Worst Most-Wanted” list.
First, we see it. Coveting is an obsession—uncontrolled desire. It begins with observation. We see it. The Hebrew word for covet is chamod. It means an uncontrolled inner-most desire to possess another man’s possession to the point of showing a disregard for God’s community and God’s authority. It is the first commandment made explicit. Commandment one says NOG—make no other God. Commandment ten shows us directly how we make other gods. We covet them into existence. Commandgram ten gives us a list of other gods: “another man’s house, another man’s spouse, another’s mouse, another man’s anything.” We make the “worse wanted” list because our eyes are bigger than our God’s eyes. Eve, Achan and David’s coveting eyes created gods and trouble.
Eve’s eyes got her in trouble. She saw the tree of good and evil as good to eat despite God telling her it will give all mankind heartburn, indigestion…need I say more:
“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and a delight to her eyes…” Gen. 3:6a
“…that they should not eat it…the day you touch and eat of it do you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17
The question is: If God told her not to eat it, why was she watching it?
Achan’s eyes got him in trouble. He saw the victory treasure was good for his to own pocketbook despite God telling him you and the community will go bankrupt.
21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, …Joshua 7:21a
19"But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD." Joshua 6:19
The question is: Why was Achan counting somebody else’s money if God said it was not his?
David’s eyes got him in trouble. He saw Bathsheba’s bathing exhibition despite God’s prohibition.
“David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing…” (2Samuel 11:2)
“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14
The question is: Why was David peeping her out when the law said she was off limits? Why do you set your sights on something you can’t buy because it has already been purchased? Our bodies are not our own. It is God’s, paid for by Christ according to 1 Cor. 6:20, yet we want what belongs to Him.
The answer is the eyes. There are almost a billion nerves to the eye gate making it a power portal that feeds obsession.
Serial killer Ted Bundy blamed his obsession with his observation—his obsession with killing with his observation of pornography. In an interview before his execution, he said it began innocently enough--with Playboy. It moved to an escalation of gratification. It ended with a taste for death. Bundy confessed to 30 murders but authorities believe there may have been as many as 100. He blamed it all on his eyes. In a nutshell, he didn’t watch (take care) what he watched as Proverbs 4:25 warns:
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fixed your gaze straight before you. Prov. 4:25
Tanya Harding’s gaze was on an Olympic gold medal in figure skating from an early age. That gaze took a left turn to an ugly fixation. She wanted it so badly she conspired and executed a plan to take out her chief rival—Nancy Kerrigan— by having some thugs—to include her husband—to take a club to Kerrigan’s knees so she would not compete in the 1994 Olympics. Harding pled guilty to her part in the attack. She never held the gold she coveted. Coveters seldom do.
Text NC— “No covet” to a friend you know who has a “want” problem. They want what they want no matter what. But it matters to God. NC is God saying in today’s text lingo: DGT—don’t go there. When you cross the line, you make the “Worst” Most-Wanted” list. You always come up short. It begins with the eyes.
The next progression in obsession is deep want—a passion of preoccupation. Coveting takes root in your heart. You think about it all the time. You get out of bed wanting it. You go to bed wanting it. And in between, you’re thinking about it 24-7. It’ becomes like a job.
Eve was preoccupied with the tree for what it would give her—wisdom.
…and that the tree was desirable to make one wise…Genesis 3:6b
She fell in love with idea of being as wise as God. She fixated on it. She had to have it, couldn’t do without it. What are you fixated on beyond what God has purposed for you? I imaged she imagined: “I will be wise to know God’s plans. I will be wise to control my man. I will be wise to know all the sales. What 24-7 preoccupation is your occupation?
Achan was preoccupied with the value of victory’s spoils from Jericho. The treasure was intoxicating.
…a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them. Josh. 7:21
He fixated on how the value would look in his bank account. He knew it’s worth down to the ounce. What has preoccupied your heart so much so you know the costs of it now despite the cost you’ll pay later? That’s how people get into credit card debt, and spiritual debt as well.
David was preoccupied with the beauty of Bathsheba for her pleasure potential.
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" II Samuel 12: 3
Davis was so smitten by Bathsheba in his heart, he ignored critical information in his head. She was the wife of Uriah. What information are you ignoring because you are listening to another part of your body? When you ignore your common sense for one particular sense of the seven senses, you are out of control. But you wouldn’t be the first.
Look at the illustrious list of persons preoccupied with desires, disregarding information of possible destruction—in a word: out of control. Former first lady Betty Ford was addicted to alcohol. King of Pop Michael Jackson was addicted to sleeping medication. It cost him his life. Basketball star Lamar Odom; rapper Eminem; actress Mary Tyler Moore all had their bouts with a substance in their want for relief. The substance they abused, in turn, abused them. Coveting, in all its forms, always winds up the abuser for those whose who do not guard their hearts as the writer of Proverbs 4:23 warns:
Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
Love what God loves. He loves faith. He a cheerful giver. He loves praise. He inhabits it. You will have issues when your wants don’t line up with God’s wants.
Text NC— “No covet” to a friend you know who has a “want” problem. They want what they want no matter what. But it matters to God. NC is God saying in today’s text lingo: DGT—don’t go there. If you do, you make the “worst wanted” list. It begins with the eyes. You see it. Then it takes root in heart. You want it. Finally, it possesses your hands. You take it.
The last stage of the progression of obsession is possession of the hands. Coveting is touching too long till it’s too late. At that point there is no turning back. We take because coveting has taken us. With the commitment of the comes serious consequences set in motion with no reverse. Eve took the fruit and made a commitment with serious consequences:
Commitment
…she took from its fruit and ate; and she handed also to her husband with her, and he ate. Gen. 3:6
Consequences
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—Ro. 5:12
Achan took and hid the treasure and made a commitment with serious consequences. He and his family were judged.
Commitment
21 …then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it." Josh. 7:21a
Consequences
And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Josh. 7:25
David took Bathsheba and made a commitment with serious consequences. Trouble plagued his family forever:
Commitment
…and when she came to him, he lay with her; and…(5) And the woman conceived… II Sam. 11:4,5
Consequences
Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' II Sam. 12:10
What we take can eventually takes us. We see that in nature. The wolf’s obsession with blood leads to blood possessing him. To catch a wolf, some Eskimo tribes dip a knife in the blood of a seal. They set the knife outside in the cold so the blood freezes on the blade. After if freezes (a matter of minutes), they dip it in the blood again. They do it enough times to create the equivalent of a blood Popsicle. Then, they bury the handle of the knife in the snow leaving the blood- coated blade exposed. They hide and wait, but not for long. Soon, the wolf arrives and do what wolves do. They to lick the blood-covered blade. Obsessed by the blood, unable to stop, they lick until they sever their tongue. The wolf’s death is eminent. We should learn from the wolf and 1 Corinthians 10:12. We all have something we have trouble saying no to. Be warned. Don’t be over-confident.
Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.1 Corinthians 10:12
Tame your hands before your hands take you. Astronaut Liza Nowak couldn’t keep her hands off fellow astronaut William Oefelein, whom she had a relationship with. He broke it off and began to see another fellow Astronaut Colleen Shipman. Nowak was overtaken by envy—the kissing cousin of coveting. Armed with ropes, knives, pepper-spray and astronaut diapers, Nowak had reached the “hand stage”. She drove 900 miles (no restroom breaks thanks to astronaut underwear), confronted Shipman, and sprayed her with pepper-spray in the face in an attempt to kidnap her. She was arrested and charged. She lost her man and her commission with NASA. When “want” reaches the “hand” stage, no one wins.
When you want to win a political point no matter what, so much so, you put a hammer in your hand and take it to someone’s head, your “want” has gone too far.
Text NC— “No covet” to a friend you know who has a “want” problem. They want what they want no matter what, despite what matters to God. NC is God saying in today’s text lingo: DGT—don’t go there. When you cross the line when it comes to want, you go too far till it’s too late. Coveting begins with the eyes. You see it. It takes root in the heart. You want it. Finally, it possesses your hands. You take it. You wind up on the “Worst Most-Wanted” list.
CONCLUSION:
The last commandment is: Do not covet. It is the first commandment made explicit. It gives you a list of how we break commandment one: have no other gods. When we covet, we make the list of Gods we make: another man’s house, spouse, mouse, anything that belongs to another man can be another god. Coveting is a progression of obsession. First, you see with our eyes. Next, you want it in your hearts. Finally, you take it with your hands. That commitment comes with great consequences. Ask Eve who contributed to the fall of man because she wanted to be as wise God. Ask Achan who wanted the spoils of war despite causing Israel to lose a battle. Ask David who wanted the beauty of married woman, even if it meant killing her husband. Their “want” crossed the line.
Text NC— “No covet” to a friend you know who has a “want” problem. They want what they want no matter what. It matters to God. NC is God saying in today’s text lingo: DGT—don’t go there.
There is nothing wrong with wanting as long as the possession doesn’t possess you and interfere with a relationship with the one person, who if you were their friend, you’d never want for anything. That person is God.
That’s why God created Commandgram—a social media look at the Ten Commandments. The big picture is: Commandgram is not about rules but about having a relationship with God. He wants to be your God and you, his people. So keep them, text them and want for nothing:
Text someone you know “NOG”—No other god. It’s God’s way of saying “LOL”. There is no other God who is going to love you like God.
Text someone “NGI”—No graven images. It’s God’s way of saying “911”. God is the right number for help. Don’t miss dial by making your own god.
Text someone “NNV”—Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain. It’s God’s way of saying “CTC”—care to chat. His user-name is the perfect name. The great “I Am”. He is what you need him to be.
Text someone “KTS”—Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. It’s God’s way of saying “TLC”—The Lord cares. Take a rest, not from God, but because of Him.
Text someone you know “HFM”—Honor your father and mother. It’s God’s way of saying “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” Respect authority and build a caring culture.
Text someone you know “NK”—Thou shalt not kill. It’s God’s way of saying W.G.A.R.C.A.R.—what goes around comes around. Value life.
Text someone you know “NA”—Thou shalt not commit adultery. It’s God’s way of saying “BFF”. I am your “better friend forever” because My grace is sufficient.
Text someone you know “NS”—Thou shalt not steal: It’s God’s way of saying “AYOR”—at your own risk. When you steal from your brother you steal from self.
Text someone you know “NL”—no lying. It’s God’s way of saying “TTTT”. It’s time to tell the truth.
Text someone you know “NC”—no coveting. It’s God way of saying “DGT”—don’t go there. Want what God wants and you’ll want for othing.
There is your Commandgram—the Ten Commandments, social media style. Same soup, different bowl. It not about rules. It’s about relationship. Follow him as a friend.
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