Sermon preview--The Tenth Commandment

In last week's sermon, I mentioned my friend Jim Overton, who served with me at my previous church. One thing about Jim: He loves chocolate. That fact was well-known in the church. There was this sweet lady who once a month or so would show up at the church office with this big chocolate meringue pie just for Jim. Here’s the thing: I love dessert. Not just chocolate; any dessert you want to name. I’m a sucker for sweets. So I was wondering what I needed to do to get in on this chocolate pie racket. One day, she brought in the pie, and she called me out of my office to see it. It was an especially beautiful pie that day; the meringue was practically a foot high. And she said to me, “Don’t you know brother Jim is going to enjoy this?” And I made my move. I must admit, I was quite shameless. I said something like, “You know, Ludell, I love chocolate pie. And no one ever brings it to me.” I wasn’t proud of myself, but I figured that did it. Next month, here comes Ludell with a chocolate pie…for Jim. In six years there, I was never able to convince Ludell I was pie-worthy. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a sweet lady and a true friend who was never anything but kind to me, but her pie was for Jim and Jim alone. So when I preach on coveting, I know whereof I speak. I say that to say this: I know all sorts of ways to avoid eating too many sweets, but I have not figured out how to become the kind of guy who doesn’t like chocolate pie. Frankly, I don’t think it can be done. So if you can’t get rid of your desire for something you can’t have, how on Earth can you keep from coveting? We'll talk about that and more (including why coveting is a serious offense) this Sunday.