Beverly Hills Coveting
I’ve mentioned before that I can’t just come up with these devotions. If I sat down and tried to think up one, more times than not, I’d be like the stereotypical music composer sitting at the piano for hours on end.
However, I have found that the opposite does sometimes happen. When the idea of the “Beverly Hills Cop” devotion came to me and I sat down to compose it, before I had even put character to
iPad, the idea of coveting came to mind. It may be because I had just spent some time in the word and one of my devotions was on Romans 13. Let’s start there:
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” - Romans 13:8-10 ESV
This devotion is from a year-long study in Romans and today’s lesson was on verse 10 of chapter 13. Dr. RC Sproul tied it to this verse from Matthew:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” - Matthew 22:36-40
Dr. Sproul, in his book, didn’t do this, but my mind immediately went to situations like the mayoral race in New York City. The leading candidate is a socialist and, even though he has toned down some of his rhetoric leading up to the election, has proposed several socialist-type platform planks. For example, eliminating bus fares for riders. Because of my actuarial background, the question of who is going to pay for the operation of the bus system jumps into my mind. The news reports suggest the candidate is looking to increase taxes on the wealthy to pay their fair share.
In my opinion, this is getting awfully close to coveting by one group of people. This general idea of a fair share, which is never defined, is just a way of looking at someone and wondering why they have all of these things when I am struggling to get by.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of the fact that my property taxes help support my local school district even though our son is an adult and lives in a different state. (I am a little peeved that during the last school referendum, the voters agreed to a huge investment in school facilities that, in my opinion, went well beyond the 3 R’s—readin, ritin, and rithmetic. But, I was given the opportunity to vote on the referendum, and the voters decided to pursue the building spree.)
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” - Romans 13:1-7
Sorry, political awareness is also one of my interests. But, back to the idea of coveting.
God, please pinch me every time I see someone with something I wish I could have and remind me that I already have more than I could ever hope for.
