Heart Of It?

Ex.20:¹⁷ “You must not covet your neighbour’s house. You must not covet your neighbour’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbour” [with emphasis]

The tenth commandment opens up our tenth battle, which is our battle with contentment. God says, “You must not covet… anything else that belongs to your neighbour.” Anything else includes your neighbour’s husband and your neighbour’s car, or your neighbour’s kitchen.

You must not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour.This actually reveals one of our deepest struggles as human beings. And the way Jesus approaches this is by going straight to the heart of it. In fact, Jesus takes it to another level. Jesus always deals with the heart of the matter [please read Matthew 5:21-22 & 27-28].

It is actually a lie when people say that being saved and under grace means that you have nothing to do with the Ten Commandments. Jesus even takes it higher. Jesus taught as He did to show us that God is interested in our inward state as much as our outward actions. The Pharisees will say to us that our hearts are not important; it is our actions. But Jesus says what is in your heart is as important as what you do. The antinomians say it is all about grace. Once your heart is right with God, it does not matter what you do. Jesus is saying no! What is in your heart is as important as what you do.

In fact Jesus says, make a tree good and the fruit will be good because by their fruits you will know them. Out of the abundance of the heart, the truth in your mouth speaks; in other words, your life flows from your heart. With Jesus, we are not just to do right – that is religion. With Jesus, we are to be right because when you are right, right flows from you.

It is interesting to see how Jesus approached the tenth commandment in Luke 18:¹⁸ (NIV, with emphasis) “A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” A lot of us most of the time are just looking for a checklist or a to-do list to have a breakthrough. But with God, it goes beyond what you do to what you are because it is who you are, that determines what you do.

Prayer [song]: Jesus, You’re the center of my joy, all that’s good and perfect comes from You. You’re the heart of my contentment, hope for all I do; Jesus, You’re the center of my joy. Amen!