My wife and I walked into the service to hear the speaker for the morning, a man from the organisation Gospel for Asia¹. Talks from people like this always give a taste and understanding of what it is like in third-world countries, not just the lack of food but the spiritual need of so many—pastors needing Bibles, broken families and even stories of other religions sacrificing their own children to idols.

As much as the talk gripped me with the reality of the horrors that lie outside of my snug little world in New Zealand, the speaker changed topic, or rather spoke not so much about them, but about us in the western world. A thought-provoking illustration he gave was a situation between a child and his/her father really struck me.

Father: “Go clean your room.”

[Child goes away and proudly returns a little while later saying], “Dad, I have memorized your words, ‘Go clean your room’.”

Father: “Go clean your room.”

[Child goes away and returns again]: “Dad, I went and gathered together some friends and we studied your words, ‘Go clean your room’.”

Father replied, “Go clean your room.”

[Child goes away and returns a third time]: “Dad, I even learnt your words, ‘Go clean your room’ in Greek!”

Why is it that when God says something, I often look over it? When I say ‘look over’, I mean I read it, understand it and ponder over the fact that God wants this to be done, but then never really apply it to our lives. I am talking about our intention to apply God’s word to our lives, not asking why I fail when I try. There is a difference.

Now let me move on to something more specific that I think I, as a westerner, struggle with, sometimes without even realising it: covetousness. I don’t know about others, but when I read through the Ten Commandments, covetousness seems like ‘the little one at the end’ to me. Is this because I have already overcome the power of covetousness, or could it be because I am blind to it living and breathing in my life?

I don’t think that there is a blanket rule for everyone about how much a person should have or give; there are rich people in God’s word and there are poor people. Neither of them are necessarily covetous people. You can be rich without holding onto everything you have and you can be poor without wanting everything everyone else has. Like what it says in Matthew, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also².” Job was a man of tremendous wealth who had it all taken away, but never cursed God. He was upset, but he never cursed God. His reliance was on God and that is where mine should be also.

To ‘want’ is different to ‘covet’. Job must have wanted the things he had or else he would not be in possession of them; the difference is that his heart was not in them, even though he could still enjoy them. Covetousness seems to mean to deeply desire what someone else has and to envy that person, but I do not think that this is the only form it comes in. I may be moving into talking about making little gods out of material things, but if so, then that too is another one of the ‘not-to-dos’ in the list of ten that I tend to overlook.

Yet, I believe that as a Christian I should not have this idea that we are all to be paupers, nor should I have this idea that we are all to be rich. Both are in the kingdom of God, both can walk closely with God and be right with Him, but it is our relationship with God that matters. However, God does pose a warning for the rich, such as in Matthew when Jesus said to his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven³.” If I have more stuff in my life, then it is bound to distract me more easily from where the real origin and meaning of life is.

I need to ask myself if there is something in my life that I hold onto, or more specifically, if there is something or someone that I hold onto with my heart and will not let go easily. Or am I like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to give away all his things? The young ruler could not give them up, and that is why I believe Jesus asked him to—Jesus tested his heart.

Yet, if I struggle with something, it is God, the Father, who can set me free and help me walk the right path, the path that has God on the throne. There is no struggle or test brought about by myself that I cannot cope with when I am with Him.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as are is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”⁴

I need to ask myself where I can improve in my walk to be more like Him, and then rely on Him to do the work in me, because I cannot do it on my own.

• Selfless (In My Own Selfish Way) by Daniel Tattersall
• Q&A: Why Are the Gospels so Inconsistent? by Daniel Tattersall
• You Don’t Have To Live This Way by Kristy Drake
• The Art of Thankfulness by Kristy Drake

Daniel Tattersall is a keen Christian, deeply desiring to know God closer and search out His truths throughout everyday life. He is happily married to "a wonderful lady", Esther Tattersall, and enjoys probing conventional thinking and discovering why people believe what they do. He has a passion for apologetics and giving well-researched reasons as to why God is more than just a theory. Daniel is also a horticulturist, exporting orchids as a trade. Read more of Kathryn's Delve articles here.