To Save America: The Ten CommandmentsSample

The human condition is such: no matter how much we have, we want more. And no matter how wonderful God has been to us, there is a powerful pull to look over at the neighbor’s yard and wish we had their stuff instead. This is what the tenth commandment is all about.

Covetousness is a deep root of sin and an ancient tactic of the enemy. Satan has played that card against mankind for thousands of years. His doctrine is to try to seduce us into forgetting Heaven and getting all we can on earth. That doctrine is seen in the quote: “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

The way of the Cross stands in sharp contrast to the path of the world. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:34–36, NKJV).

Jesus constantly called us to set our eyes on things above. If we gain the whole world, if we gain riches, and wealth, and fame, and all that the movies promise, but lose our soul, the truth is we will have nothing of eternal value.

The world says to take, but Jesus exhorted us to give. Christ’s doctrine is to give and, in doing so, it shall be given unto us in return. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38, ESV).

To live as a Kingdom-minded believer who follows Jesus Christ of Nazareth is to live contrary to the teaching of the world. It is to give instead of take, to serve instead of looking to be served, and to be content instead of coveting what someone else owns.