This commandment takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden where the serpent makes Eve focus on the only thing she couldn't have. They had access and freedom to everything in the garden but the fruit of one single tree.
Learning to want germinates in a lack of gratitude that grows into chronic dissatisfaction. When we look past all that we have and fixate on what we don't have (and our neighbour does have) we enter into the dangerous country of coveting.
The problem with coveting is that it robs us of joy. It diminishes our quality of life. It depletes our ability to enjoy what we have.
Bruce Carroll, in his song "Jealousy", writes this:
|A neighbour came home with another new car [a new donkey!]
|I couldn't say what was in my heart
|(So) I said, "Good for you"
|I paused to smile but the feeling came:
|God you missed me again by one driveway!
|Jealousy is killing me
|Jealousy is killing me
|It takes a toll on my gratitude - moves me farther away from You
|How many times do I have to learn that I have more than I deserve??
|More than I deserve?
At the heart of it, wanting is a vote of no confidence in the Love and Providence of God and this is a serious state to find ourselves in.
When you find yourself in the grip of wanting, the old advice of counting your blessings is very useful!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
