10 Commandments Today, 11of14

~ Do Not Be Covetous ~

Key Passage  ~  Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

Old Testament Command (#10)  ~  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).

“‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’  These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more.  And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me” (Deuteronomy 5:21-22). 

New Testament Responsibility  ~  Jesus said, “Then one from the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’  But He said to him, ‘Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?’  And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?”  So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’  But God said to him, “Fool!  This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God’” (Luke 12:13-21).

Additional Passage  ~  “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Comment  ~  Someone has remarked, “There are no U-Hauls in heaven!”  Scripture puts it this way:  “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37, parallel passage Matthew 16:26).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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