That Comfy Little Covet-Cubby
A number of people in my generation are coming to an age when issues of inheritance are becoming more and more . . . relevant. Our parents are being gathered to their fathers, and we are left to sort out the stuff. The fact that we do not do well in this is not a new phenomenon. We should recall that the grudge that the older brother had toward the prodigal was all tangled up with inheritance issues.
And then there is this.
“And one of the company said unto him,
Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And
he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And
he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s
life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:13-15).
The last of the Ten Commandments tells us not to covet stuff we have no claim to whatever — and it is still a most necessary reminder. No commandment trips us up like this one does.
