Yahweh, who knows the heart, says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Deuteronomy 5:21). And Jesus says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
This commandment proves that God is not interested in a merely external show of obedience, but that he is after our hearts. Coveting can manifest in things like fighting (James 4:2), but it can just as well remain invisible, hidden from all the world. But you cannot hide your heart from God. This commandment vindicates Jesus’ interpretation of the Law, that holiness and sin are fundamentally matters of the heart (Mark 7:20-23). God requires our love, which has to do with the deepest levels of our motives, affections, and desires.
The depths of our hearts are often hidden, even from ourselves (Jeremiah 17:9-10). But God searches these depths. He knows that we sin, and he wants us to know this about ourselves, which is why he gave us commandments like this one (Romans 7:7). He commands our wholehearted, perfect, pure, unceasing love, without even “one particle of covetousness to hinder” (John Calvin) in order to reveal to us that we are sinners in need of his mercy. Have you been dissatisfied with what God has given to you? Have you wanted more? Have you felt that, if only you could possess this one thing (whatever it is), you would finally be content? Have you envied others what God has given to them, as if you were entitled to it but they were not? Yes, of course you have, there is no doubt about it. You need God’s forgiveness, not just for the apparently evil or ungodly acts you have committed, but for the secret things going on inside your heart.
“Covetousness… is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). When you covet, your heart is attached to something, demanding something, yearning for something that you believe will fulfill you. Really, your heart is going after a God-substitute. You cannot be thankful for what you have, only resentful of what others have. You resent God for his generosity, perhaps feeling like you deserve more, and you become perfectly willing to dehumanize your neighbor and objectify others (like his wife) along the way.
Now you know something of how bad it is, but don’t stop there. Now, even more, you can know how good Jesus is. Jesus never once coveted what God had given to his neighbors. Can you imagine it? Jesus never found himself bent out of shape about what God had not given to him. Jesus was perfectly content with his Father’s providence and will, even though it led him through poverty and pain to death on the cross. Jesus was satisfied with God. Jesus never begrudged us anything, but took pity on us and gave us everything. Jesus gave us God. He gave himself up for our forgiveness, and he gives himself to us for our life with God. By his Spirit, he gives us a new heart—his own righteous heart—to live free of covetousness vicariously in him. Jesus gives us his own satisfaction with God. Thanks be to God, Jesus is enough to fulfill us forever!
Have you ever felt like, “It’s not coveting if I see what my neighbor has, want it, and just go buy one for myself”? What sorts of tangible things might you have coveted? What sorts of intangible things might you have coveted? What is the most ridiculous trinket your heart has gone after like a God-substitute? Have you ever coveted what imaginary people have? (Think of actors you’ve seen in television ads driving the car you should be driving.) Have you been upset at the thought of “that person” enjoying what you feel you deserve to enjoy? How is it a resentment of God’s generosity and a dehumanization of your neighbor to covet what belongs to him? How do you feel about the fact that your own heart deceives you about your covetousness? How do you “put to death” (Colossians 3:5) something so subterranean as covetousness? What is it like to live vicariously in Christ and therefore with his resources to live free of covetousness?
