Re:Verse passage –Exodus 20:17 (day six)
“You shall not covet…anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Paul, Philippians 4:4
Coveting never rejoices. It is a thief, a robber. It entangles; enslaved to its discontentment, it peers into the windows of others lives, where the grass is always greener. It replaces joy with envy, and rejoicing with bemoaning. It’s vocabulary consists almost entirely of phrases like “I must have…”, or “If only I….”
Faith rejoices in hope. Rather than depleting, it restores. Rather than enslaving, it is freeing. Faith looks beyond itself, even through heartache and pain, fixing its gaze on the assurance of the promises of God. And it rejoices in the goodness of God, and especially in the good that comes to others. It’s vocabulary consists of phrases like “I am thankful for…” or “I trust God because…”
Don’t be mistaken, faith doesn’t live in ease. No, it is scrappy; it doesn’t let up or give up, even when it feels like it is out of breath. For faith, breathing IS praying, where hope is found, and where there is hope there is rejoicing.
Well said, my friend, well said.