Devotionals

---

Exodus 20:17
"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."
---

A friend asked me yesterday what would be my "dream car." For the past few decades it has been the Porsche 911 Carrera. I had the opportunity to drive one when I was stationed in Germany, and I fell in love with it then. When I am driving down the street with my kids in the car, we like to point out some of our favorite cars. "Vette!" we call out, or "Stang!" (You know, Chevy Corvette or Ford Mustang.) But when a Porsche goes by, I say, "Mmmm...Porsche...Yummm..." I sound like a cartoon character drooling over a donut. I really like that car--its shape, the colors, the technical specifications, and the way it drives. But do I covet one? That's a good question.

As much as I like Porsche cars, I have never been tempted to steal one. Nor, for that matter, have I even tried to make a lot of money so I can afford one. I haven't scrimped and saved to try to buy one. In fact, I haven't made any effort to get myself a Porsche at all. About ten years ago, my wife and kids actually bought me a Porsche--at 1:24 scale in a little showcase box. That's about as close as I am ever like to get to actually owning my dream car, and that's just fine by me. I don't think I covet anyone else's Porsche. I just appreciate the car for what it is.

So, what does it mean to covet something? The Hebrew word translated as "covet" in today's verse is "châmad." That word is also often translated as desired, delighted, pleasant, and even beloved. Why might it be wrong to simply desire something, or to delight in it? The truth is that it's NOT wrong to like something--UNLESS that something belongs to someone else. Notice that the commandment today is not just to not covet, but to not covet things from your neighbor's household: his house, wife, servants, animals, "nor anything that is your neighbor's." Let us look at some other places where "châmad" is used in the Old Testament.

---
Joshua 7:20-21 (my emphasis)
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
21 "When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I COVETED them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

Isaiah 53:1-2 (my emphasis)
1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should DESIRE Him.

Daniel 10:3 (my emphasis)
I ate no PLEASANT food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
---

What occurs to me as I read theses passages is that our desire is something that can lead us astray. Achan yielded to the temptation to take the spoils that had been expressly forbidden. Isaiah tells us of the Messiah whose beauty is in what He does for us, not in His face nor stature. And Daniel fasted from the foods that he normally craved, the things that he found pleasant, so he could glorify the Lord God. Worldly things stand the possibility to tempt us, to draw our eye away from the things that we ought to desire.

---
James 1:12-15
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE