Preaching through each of the 10 Commandments has been convicting!  And the 10th – you shall not covet – has been the most convicting, and is the most comprehensive “2nd Tablet” commandment about our horizontal duty to one another.  While the others relate to actions (don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie), the 10th gets to the heart attitude:  don’t covet.   Hand over the reins to wrong desire (coveting what belongs to others), and it leads to all the rest!

Here is some food for thought, if you are prone (like most of us) this think that more is marvellous, and bigger is better.  According to a recent housing affordability study by McCrindle Research, the cost of an average Australian home is currently almost 10-times the average annual salary.  Compare this to 1970 – when the cost of an average Australian home was just over 5-times the average annual salary – and you might conclude that housing is now twice as expensive. An outrage!  Don’t be outraged.  Instead, counter-balance this statistic with another:  the average home is now twice as large compared to 1970.   Per square metre, housing cost is virtually identical now as then!

The confronting truth is that even with houses now twice as big, and average family size smaller than 1970, nearly 1 in 10 families use rental storage because they cannot fit all their “stuff” into their big houses!!  Our problem is coveting.

Here is some surprisingly sound advice from a Generation-Y columnist discussing this in the Courier-Mail recently,

“Unlike previous generations, we want more bedrooms than there are house occupants, not to mention a study, a media room and a MasterChef worthy kitchen. Get real! If you want to own a home, then work hard…and buy one. A small one.”

It is convicting when “the world” is leading the way with teaching moral truths about self-control and being content with less!  In reality, they are just going back to God’s original wisdom: don’t covet.  By world standards, we are truly rich.

We must find our Contentment in Christ, and pray according to Proverbs 30:7, “I ask of You, Lord….give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food that is my portion”, and pray with Paul, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation….I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:12-13).  For THEN we will truly love our neighbour, rather than covet their “stuff.”

To both these prayers, may our souls say a hearty “Amen!”