It has been said that the first and last commandments of the Decalogue complement each other. The first declares that we are to have no other God than the God who delivered us from bondage. The tenth says that we shall not covet. How are these prohibitions complementary? The first intimates that we are to trust that the God who rescued us will not forsake us. He alone is the one to whom we must turn for all that we need. Faith in him and him alone is fundamental to our relationship with him. To covet, on the other hand, is to be discontent with what God has provided. When we desire the things of our neighbor to the point of complaining about our lack, we profess that our God is not as kind or as generous as theirs. Such adoration for a another god is nothing less than idolatry.
Jesus uses the parable of the rich fool to say as much (Luke 12:13-21). With it he warns against wealth’s power to captivate and deceive us into thinking that we are in control of everything around us, even our future. Whether we possess the riches, or just wish that we did, we are instructed that our first priority should be pursuing wealth toward God. Our hope, our confidence, our contentment should derive from our knowledge of him and his salvation, and not from an imaginary existence that we believe will satisfy. To rest in wealth, real or imagined, is to place our hopes in the hands of an idol.
Confidence in the true God, in his promises, wisdom, power, and love, breeds contentment. Coveting that which is our neighbor's, whether it be his home, wife, job, or status, breeds discontentment. The former is the fruit of the gospel working in our life. The latter, the fruit of giving rein to unsanctified yearning.
With the Spirit’s help we can experience contentment. He can develop in us a godly response to earthly riches (material or otherwise) so that we can pursue and enjoy them free of the striving that marks a covetous soul. The key is understanding that we are stewards of all that God allows us to possess. To be rich toward God is to use the riches he bestows to his glory. This was the wealthy man’s folly. God had given him much but he decided it was for him to use as he pleased — he would “relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” There will be scant mirth for such a one when called to give an account. Truly, “better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it” (Proverbs 15:16).
