Good Words for Today: November 19

“You shall not covet” (Exodus 20: 17). Note how specific this is. You shall not covet .  . . Your neighbor’s house. Your neighbor’s wife. His male servant. His female servant. His ox. His donkey. Anything your neighbor owns. Evidently there were problems in the neighborhood way back when. Nothing has really changed. Coveting is tricky because it is invisible, and it usually involves things more valuable than donkeys. Some things matter more than other things. Donkeys are good, but if I am not happy with the donkey I have, I am unlikely to be happier with my neighbor’s donkey. Ditto for his wife and everything else he has. If having more would make us happy, we would never need the Tenth Commandment. It is written for unhappy people. That’s why C.S. Lewis said, “Our problem is not that we want too much, it’s that we’re satisfied with too little.” O Lord, reveal to us our coveting spirit and replace it with a holy love for you. Amen 

November 19, 2016