The Rule of God’s Law: First Things (19)

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“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

We must discipline our hearts to desire only what God desires. By setting our hearts on the Law of God, we learn to fear and love Him. We also learn the proper way to love our neighbors, and to hate that which rebels against or would thwart the purposes, pleasure, and plan of God.

But, in spite of being redeemed, our hearts remain prone to deceitfulness and wickedness (Jer. 17.9). In our hearts it is possible to sin against God without that sin ever coming to expression in words or deeds.

This is the sin of covetousness, or especially with respect to our fleshly desires, the sin of lust. Covetousness is the gateway to all sin, and an affection we must continuously guard against in our hearts.

Covetousness or lust is simply inordinate, misguided desire, typically, directed in a way that would violate the Law of God or the wisdom of the divine order. Sinful human beings are apparently rather easily provoked to lust. We may experience covetousness because of the possessions or privileges others enjoy, some place they hold in the eyes of our peers, or even their physical appearance. Lust begins to arise in our hearts as we linger in thought over the advantage, possession, or features of another, so that that thought begins to bring forth desire in our hearts – the desire, or merely the idea, of possessing the contemplated thing.

All lust and covetousness is a form of idolatry and thus a sin, not only against ourselves or our neighbors, but against God Himself (Col. 3.5). All the more reason to hate covetousness and to cultivate contentment in its place (1 Tim. 6.6-8).

Lust can poison the soul, overriding sound reason, setting aside established values and priorities, and leading to actions contrary to the revealed Word of God. Because of this, we must be ever aware of when lust is beginning to rise within us, and, through confession, repentance, and thanksgiving, be done with covetousness before it takes root and begins to grow to fruition.

We are setting our hearts on the Law of God when we submit to its counsel concerning what we must and must not desire in our hearts. The Law, as Paul noted, can help us to recognize and resist all forms of covetousness (Rom. 7.7). Thus the more we learn and delight in God’s Law, the greater will be our desire to maintain victory over the destructive affection of lust, and the more our hearts will be trained to love God and our neighbors as we should.

Next steps – Preparation: Pray through the Ten Commandments. As you do, think about the day ahead. What possible temptations to covetousness or lust can you anticipate? Ask the Spirit to strengthen your heart in fear and love of God, and contentment with His many gifts, so that you will be ready to resist covetousness whenever it appears.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of the Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.