Attitude Vocabulary
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Deuteronomy 5:21
Covet / Desire – The seat of action is the attitude of the heart. So, it’s not surprising at all that the last of the commandments points inward. All of those outward behavioral issues (lying, stealing, adultery, dishonoring, idolatry) begin with inner corruption. That’s where the root problem lies and that’s where it must be confronted. You see, God is ultimately not interested in compliance. He is interested in commitment. That’s why God hardly ever exercises de jure authority (the authority He has by divine right of creation – the authority of power). God usually (thankfully) exercises de facto authority. That’s the authority given back to Him when I recognize that it is my duty to serve Him because He is God. This is volunteer commitment, not power-based compliance. So, the two words here, hamad and ‘awah, focus on my attitude vocabulary, my inner motivation. If my heart is in the right place, I will never break this commandment. If it’s not, I will break this commandment without lifting a finger.
Does this seem like an incredibly impossible commandment? I can control my outward actions. I can not steal, not lie, not commit adultery, not dishonor God or my parents. That’s a matter of discipline. But now God is commanding me to control my thoughts! Are you kidding? How is that possible? What am I supposed to do when I see an attractive person or an enticing possession? How am I supposed to rein in my desire for success or housing or anything else that someone else has? Does God really expect me to exercise mind-control? The answer is “Yes.” Do you remember that God says that His commandments are not too difficult for us to do? So, how did we get into the place where we think that our thoughts are beyond the reach of the spiritual harness?
Perhaps it started with the separation of the mind (reason) from the body (action). Perhaps it’s because our Greek-based rational world views emotions as wildly uncontrollable (so, we fall in love, etc.). Perhaps it’s because in the world where reason is seen as the criterion of human being, we allow the mind to have free rein of thought as if that were a virtue in itself. No matter where the philosophical beginnings, the result is ominous from God’s point of view. The very fact that God gave the tenth commandment means that we are responsible for our thoughts and that they can be brought under the government of God. What else could Paul have meant when he said to bring every thought captive? What else could it mean for God to promise to give us the desires of our hearts? Does that mean we get whatever our unbridled lust wishes? God forbid! It means that as we put our will, mind, emotions and choices under His direction, He replaces those desires that break the commandment with desires that come from Him. The tenth commandment is impossible without a heart transplant. In God’s world, heart transplants are elective surgery. Are you ready to go under the knife?
Topical Index: Commandments, Covet
