“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17
Things are not always as they appear. I believe this is one of the reasons coveting is so foolish – not to mention sinful. Looking at something (or someone) from the outside can never provide a fully detailed or accurate picture. We are always forced to “fill in the blanks” with our own assumptions and made up stories. All we have to do is look at the icons and idols of our culture. How many times must we hear the story of a famous, wealthy, beautiful person whose personal life is revealed to be in shambles before we recognize that not everything is as it seems – and that not everyone who looks happy is happy?
I love the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s a classic (1948). When I think of this movie I am reminded of the saying, “All that glitters isn’t gold.” Just because something looks like gold doesn’t mean it is the real thing. Ever heard the term “fool’s gold?” Those who searched for gold were well aware of the fact that there were substances that looked exactly like gold, but were actually worthless.
Going from the excitement of thinking you’ve “struck it rich” to finding that you have the equivalent of a bag of gravel can be heartbreaking. So too can the disappointment of putting one’s hopes and dreams into acquiring what others have, only to find that it isn’t what you thought it would be, and you wish you hadn’t pursued it.
There is a remedy for this dilemma – a way to avoid it, actually. It is the admonition of a loving God in the form of the Tenth Commandment – “You shall not covet.” We often have no idea what people are experiencing in the fullness of their lives. What looks like something great and awesome may actually be unfulfilling and troublesome. Who knows? Furthermore, when we focus on what others have, we are automatically distracted from what we have. This causes ingratitude toward God.
It is clear to me that there is an abundance of real gold in my own life. Not fool’s gold, mind you, but the real thing. Instead of focusing on what I think I want and need (but don’t have), why not focus on that?
