Be content

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. – Exodus 20.17

People are wanters. It is part of our nature. And part of being a wanter is to want other peoples’ stuff. The problem of being discontent is another one of those issues that is almost universal and sadly God’s people are no exception.

God knew that of course. So He said early on that we are not to covet anything that anyone else has. It is a pretty good list in this verse, but just to be sure God wraps the verse up with ‘not anything that is your neighbour’s.’

There are a lot of problems with coveting. It proves we are not content. It proves that we think we know our needs better than God does. It proves that we are idolaters (see Colossians 3.5). It proves that Jesus is not enough to us because He promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.

Contentment is the opposite of covetousness. Contentment means I trust God to know what I need. Covetousness means that I trust me to know what I need. Contentment means I trust the all knowing, all powerful all wise God to know best – covetousness means I trust flawed and foolish and feeble me to know best.

Who knows best? Who should we trust?