"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah 1:5
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phillipians 4: 11-13
With "Do not covet" we come to the final week of 91of10.com. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but think that God’s first commandment and his last are spiritual bookends, the beginning and the end, the two commandments that hold all the others in place.
Think about this: God’s first commandment calls us to have no other gods before him, his last, not to covet - meaning, as Rob said on Sunday, from the Hebrew translation - not to desire, nor desire to take pleasure in the preciousness of what belongs to others . . . for the sake of the whole, for the sake of the entire body of Christ. And isn't it in the desire of those other things that we could come to commit the sins forbidden in the other eight commandments?
If we truly achieve that, if we truly come to a place where we "do not covet" what others have, in any sense of the word, doesn’t it really mean that we’ve come to a place where we've fully accepted that the life God gave us, with all its ups and downs, positives and negatives, valleys and mountains, is the life He chose for us, the one He designed knowing that if we would only surrender to it, to Him, that it would be the very life that would help us to become more like Him; that it would be the life that teaches us to draw our strength, our purpose from Him, and not from ourselves? And that in having accomplished that, we would have come, finally, to a place where we would not have any other gods before Him; where we would no longer desire any other gods but Him?
And in the end, isn’t that what we really are about, as Christians? That total surrender? Aren’t we really about becoming more and more like Him, so that like Him, we can, in turn, impart the knowledge of His love to others, who hopefully, will come to the same realization, and to that same lack of covetousness in their own lives? That they, too, would come to a place where they would no longer have any gods before Him?
Pray: Father, help us have a change of heart, a change of attitude; help us desire only what you would have for us in our lives, that we would trust your hand in our lives, and know that no matter what, your design is in it. Help us to trust you completely, to know that you knew us, loved us, before we were even formed in our mother's womb, and that you have a plan, a purpose, to prosper us, to grow us in you. You, alone, are holy.
"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phillipians 4: 11-13
With "Do not covet" we come to the final week of 91of10.com. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but think that God’s first commandment and his last are spiritual bookends, the beginning and the end, the two commandments that hold all the others in place.
Think about this: God’s first commandment calls us to have no other gods before him, his last, not to covet - meaning, as Rob said on Sunday, from the Hebrew translation - not to desire, nor desire to take pleasure in the preciousness of what belongs to others . . . for the sake of the whole, for the sake of the entire body of Christ. And isn't it in the desire of those other things that we could come to commit the sins forbidden in the other eight commandments?
If we truly achieve that, if we truly come to a place where we "do not covet" what others have, in any sense of the word, doesn’t it really mean that we’ve come to a place where we've fully accepted that the life God gave us, with all its ups and downs, positives and negatives, valleys and mountains, is the life He chose for us, the one He designed knowing that if we would only surrender to it, to Him, that it would be the very life that would help us to become more like Him; that it would be the life that teaches us to draw our strength, our purpose from Him, and not from ourselves? And that in having accomplished that, we would have come, finally, to a place where we would not have any other gods before Him; where we would no longer desire any other gods but Him?
And in the end, isn’t that what we really are about, as Christians? That total surrender? Aren’t we really about becoming more and more like Him, so that like Him, we can, in turn, impart the knowledge of His love to others, who hopefully, will come to the same realization, and to that same lack of covetousness in their own lives? That they, too, would come to a place where they would no longer have any gods before Him?
Pray: Father, help us have a change of heart, a change of attitude; help us desire only what you would have for us in our lives, that we would trust your hand in our lives, and know that no matter what, your design is in it. Help us to trust you completely, to know that you knew us, loved us, before we were even formed in our mother's womb, and that you have a plan, a purpose, to prosper us, to grow us in you. You, alone, are holy.
2 comments:
Thanks for this reminder that our goal in life is to become more like Christ, not more like the guy next door. When I became a Christian, one of the most liberating ways God restored me to Him was in freeing me from a bad habit of comparing myself to others. I would compare myself to guys around me -coveting their athletic abilities, intellect, charm, etc. - and then proclaim myself inferior. I think guys do this more often than we care to admit and it can be devastating to self-esteem. When we put Jesus on the throne we see all people including ourselves with His eyes and that changes everything about how we view relationships.
I love what the Psalmist says about God's careful and unique design for our lives in Psalm 139 (verses 13-16):
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
May we keep our eyes fixed on the Creator of the universe as we walk the path (from point A to point Z) that he's mapped for us and do the good works that He's prepared in advance for us - we're His workmanship (Eph 2:10)!
Thank you for your comment. This is also one of my favorite scriptures because it holds God's promise to me, to all of us, that we are in His hands; that He is in control.
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