[blindchristian] The Real Issue, November 14, 2015

From: "Victoria E Gilkerson" <vegilkerson@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindchristian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <damen3@xxxxxxx>, "'Susan Goncher'" <susangoncher@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2015 17:43:38 -0600

Tenth Commandment Study, Continued.

The Real Issue

By Pastor Geoff Kragen

Does this really mean I can't want a Mazda Miata?

There is a danger with this command, that it can be taken to mean it is sin
to desire or want anything. The issue isn't wanting something, but how much
it is wanted and to what degree one is willing to go to get it. The
operative idea here is related to "an 'inordinate, ungoverned, selfish
desire.'" This issue, again, is one of the heart. We all have desires to
have things, but where do the desires come from? Are we looking to the Lord
for what we not only have, but what we really want? How often do we get
things not because we need them, but on impulse? Do we really take our
desires to the Lord?

Can you think of some times when you really coveted something? Can you also
think of times when you really did want something, but you took that desire
to the Lord, and it was clear He also wanted you to have whatever it was?

As I noted earlier, we live in a culture that flourishes on the concept of
coveting. Written on a stone arch over Madison Avenue are the words, "Thou
Shalt Covet." It appears the entire function of advertising is to cause us
to covet something, anything. We are also to go beyond coveting - into
obtaining.

One obvious exampl I can think of is children's advertising. Children really
coveted "Despicable Me 2 Minion." If their friends had them, then they had
to have them also. I think though we will find that while the effect of
advertising is obvious on children, it is just as strong, though possibly
more subtle in approach, on adults.

Can you think of some advertising pieces that have had an effect on you? Now
the effect may have only been to think, "I'd sure like that," but it may
also have sent you out to obtain the item. By the way, I'm not saying the
buying was wrong, I'm just trying to identify the effectiveness of
advertising.

I think you can see that I'm saying it may be all right to want a Miata.
Bush, in his commentary on Exodus, puts it this way:

"A simple, passing, evanescent, wish to possess any thing valuable or
agreeable, which we see to belong to our neighbor, is no doubt, in thousands
of cases, the mere prompting of an innate and instinctive desire, which is
in itself innocent, and probably the very same feeling which prompted our
neighbor himself innocently to procure it." 1

Coveting is basically keeping up with the Joneses, desiring what they have,
because they have it. Coveting involves passion. It is that passion that is
encouraged often, as a basis to get us to consume.

By the way, notice the focus here is on the wrong desire. No action need be
carried out, to fulfill the desire. The desire itself is the sin. This seems
much more in line with Jesus' teachings on adultery. The desire for the act
is the same as the act, from God's point of view. So let us also not confuse
wanting with coveting. But let's not forget we can sin, just by coveting.
Getting isn't necessary.

1 Bush, George, Exodus, Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, Inc.,
Minneapolis MN, 1981, p. 284.

To be continued.

For further info about Pastor Geoff Kragen, as well as his podcasts or his
other devotionals, please go to:
<http://www.cfdevotionals.org/links/authgeof.htm>
http://www.cfdevotionals.org/links/authgeof.htm

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Victoria E Gilkerson

[blindchristian] The Real Issue, November 14, 2015

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