Don’t forget to ask these 4 questions when reading the text:
Who is God?
What has He done?
Who are we?
What are we to do?
Feel free to pick any of the following questions to lead your discovery and discussion. Don’t feel like you have to get through them all, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you during your time together.
Remember, as we open our hearts, our Bibles, and our lives, let’s be sure that our discovery and discussions lead us to the Bible, personal honesty and actual action in the ways we live as we are led and lead one another to Jesus.
Week 10
Exodus 20:17
“ You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbors.”
Introduction
When God frees us, he does two things: he frees us from the oppression of sin and death, and frees us to enjoy relationship with him. While believers are set free, never does freedom mean that we are not dependent upon God. Even as we seek to obey the commandments, we are never self-reliant. But sadly, often times in the Christian life, we go it alone and settle for mere external obedience and self-reliance. But God never intends mere external obedience. Instead, he is seeking worship from the heart. The last and tenth Commandment shifts the gaze from mere rule-following to heart motivations.
The tenth commandment reveals the sin of discontent. At the root of discontent is covetousness, the desire to have what doesn't belong to us. In the midst of our covetousness, may we be satisfied in Jesus alone as the ultimate source of our contentment.
Observation
A theme of The Ten Commandments is protection. Commandments 1-4 protect our relationship with God, while commandments 5-9 protect our relationship with others. Who or what does the tenth commandment provide protection for? From who or what?
How is this commandment similar to Commandments 5-9? How is it different?
Interpretation
To covet means to “ earnestly desire.” According to 1st Corinthians 12:31 and 14:1, can earnest desire ever be good? What is the difference between the earnest desire commended by Paul in 1st Corinthians and that in the tenth commandment of Exodus 20?
In the tenth commandment, God not only wants to govern our deeds but our motivations and thoughts. In light of James 1:14-15, why is this necessary?
How might love of the wrong thing and discontent manifest in your walk with God?
Read Philippians 4:10-13. In what circumstances of life do you find yourself feeling discontent? What is Paul's secret to contentment?
Read Romans 7:7-12, 21-25. According to Paul, what is the purpose of the law in our salvation story? Paul is a student of the Jewish law, yet he writes here of his struggle to keep it. How does he describe this “war within him,” and how is it resolved?
Application
In Luke 12:15, Jesus warned the crowd to “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” What currently consumes your thoughts? How are you influenced by the outward appearances of others' lives?
Is there anyone you are envious of right now? What about their life or possessions do you want? What do you wish God would give you that you don't currently have?
In what life circumstances are you discontent? If God's love is the source of contentment, what aspect of it is difficult for you to believe and why?
In what ways are you content in Jesus and what he's done in your life? How might that inform your desire for a different picture of your life?