Recently, the Lord reminded me of some things that He’d impressed upon me years ago about “covetousness”. At the time, I realized that I’d never really given it much thought. I understood that to covet meant to have an inordinate desire for something (e.g. to lust or to crave) and that there is a commandment against coveting our neighbors’ wife and/or their goods. But as I prayed, I began to sense that this is a much bigger issue than I’d previously recognized. As I re-read the commandment, I recalled that it actually covered “anything that belongs to your neighbor” and I sensed God challenging me to take a fresh look at all of the commandments. To some extent, I guess I’d believed that God commanded against coveting as a way of preventing us from falling into temptation for things like adultery, stealing or idolatry. And while there may be some truth to that, I began to see that He really covered those issues with commandments of their own. It seemed as though He was showing me that coveting isn’t just a problem if it leads to other sins, but that the act itself is destructive to our soul. Undoubtedly, there are those who might want to quibble about where the line between simple desire and inappropriate desire should be drawn, but ultimately only God’s perception really matters.
The first step in coveting is simply to get focused on a particular object or person. That may seem like a harmless thing and, by itself, it could be; but if we keep our eyes fixed on one thing for very long, we quite naturally begin to discern things, make judgments and have some sort of emotional response. In those moments, a spiritual doorway often opens as well. As members of a highly competitive and materialistic society, the things we find desirable are prone to quickly spur us toward covetousness. Of course, we don’t call it that. We tend to justify a lust for position and prestige as being “goal-oriented” or “career minded” or “ambitious”; cravings for a more extravagant lifestyle are generally passed off as “pursuing the American Dream”; while yearnings for the perfect relationship are characterized as, “looking for Mr or Mrs Right”. To someone born into Western society, these things are simply natural features of the cultural landscape; but in the eyes of God, I suspect that they are little more than well dressed covetousness. In truth, the constant craving for more (i.e. bigger, better, newer…) has become a trademark of our national character. All forms of popular media consistently bombard the average person with images meant to titillate and stir our cravings; and it’s doubtful that any society has been more responsive to those promptings than ours. We are encouraged to peek into our neighbors’ windows (e.g. reality shows) and to covet whatever we find of value (e.g. their stuff, their looks, their career, their mates, their children…). Indeed the criterion for success in this culture is most often how we compare to other people. We’ve kidded ourselves into believing that if we’re “just looking”, and not necessarily acting on the resultant feelings, we are somehow blameless; but Jesus tells a different story. He said that to look upon a woman lustfully is to have committed adultery in our hearts. While we might understand that principle in regards to sexual feelings, how often have we lusted after other people’s homes, relationships, lifestyles… In the scripture, God groups all of these cravings into the same category of sin.
As with all sin, covetousness short-circuits Gods plan to give us abundant life. He wants us to find the extravagant provision that He’s made for us, while the enemy of our souls seeks to keep us connected to a sense of lack. Since we don’t tend to covet what we already have, the act of coveting keeps us focused on what we don’t have. Pursuit of those things generally blinds us to the blessings we already possess and becomes little more than a vain attempt to gain our lives. It is Satan’s treadmill to have us waste the precious time and resources that we’ve been given chasing some elusive promise of fulfillment. In those instances when we are successful in attaining the coveted object, we most often find that it is not nearly as satisfying as we’d hoped. In these times the enemy generally begins to dangle “the next big thing” in front of us and soon we’re off and running again. This picture is in stark contrast to the scripture. The book of Hebrews tells us to keep our lives free of covetousness and to be content with whatever we have. Paul also testified that he’d learned to be contented in all things. This is the same freedom the Lord means for us. We’re told that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all of the other things will be added to us. As with so many things, we in the church are often more conformed to the culture than to the word of God. Sadly, the consumer mentality is rampant in the church and covetousness is a sin that is openly committed without repentance; even Pastors transparently covet other Pastor’s facilities, congregations and callings. I sensed the Lord saying that covetousness has become so widely and openly accepted in the western church that it isn’t even really considered a sin anymore. The Lord led me to Ezekiel 33, which says, “With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain (i.e. their heart goeth after their covetousness – KJV)”. God goes on to tell the Prophet that, “Indeed to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice”.
The life that God ordained for us is one in which we are led by the promptings of His Spirit, not by our cravings. It is not wrong to have goals, as long as those goals are established by God; it is not wrong to have a vision for your life, as long as that vision is given to you by God; it is not wrong to have ambition, as long as that ambition is rooted in fulfilling God’s will and purpose for your life. Covetousness keeps us focused and bound to the things of this world, while God calls us to be focused on the eternal things. It seeks to satisfy our soul through the feeding of our flesh (which is perishing), while God seeks to satisfy our soul through the feeding of our spirit (which is eternal). In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them not only to refrain from covetousness, but to disassociate themselves from those who are. He also includes covetousness, along side issues like homosexuality and adultery, on the list of things that will prevent a person from inheriting the Kingdom of God. While it is unlikely that most congregations would tolerant blatant displays of sexual sin, how much more prevalent and apparent is covetousness within the church. As I meditated on these things, I found myself praying as the Psalmist did, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain” (i.e. covetousness-KJV). “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word”. Amen.
[NOTE: It is worth mentioning that the word “covet” (coveting, covetous…) is translated many different ways and seems to be featured most prominently in the King James Version of the Bible. For many of the passages that I referenced, I used that version of scripture.]
Bjcorbin's Blog 
This word must strike close to home. Well said.