Category: The 10th Loving Word – Value Contentment

Deuteronomy 5:6-7 (NIV)
6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
7 “You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 5:21 (NIV)
21 “You shall not covet…anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

“The climax of the Decalogue takes us to the heart of the matter, to the source of so much of what the previous commandments have prohibited…The inclusion of coveting shows that covenant loyalty in Israel went far deeper than external conformity to statute law. The God who claimed the people’s love also claimed the rest of their affections and desires. Thus the commandments come full circle. To break the tenth is to break the first. For covetousness means setting our hearts and affections on things that then take the place of God.” (Wright, UBCS)2

As our desires and worship are so closely tied, we are blessed to live within the circle of God’s loving boundaries that hold our hearts close to him. As we conclude the 10 Loving Words series that has blessed us so much, may our church continue to grow in devotion to the Lord our God, who brought us out of slavery and spoke over us these words of freedom.

Prayer: Lord, hold our hearts close to you and continue to form us as your people. Help us to grow in worship and desire for you and to glorify your name as we live within the blessing of your loving words to us.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Soli Deo Gloria” by Darlene Zschech (click here).

-CWR

Let’s proclaim these passages out loud:

Galations 5:13, 16, 22-24 (NIV)
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

“Yahweh liberated his son Israel, and he wants his son to live in freedom…These freedoms are achieved, however, only if the souls of Israel are free, free from evil desires and fixed on true riches…To be true sons, we need another Pentecost beyond Sinai, when the Spirit writes on human hearts.”

As those with the Spirit, we are truly free from the slavery of sin. Where the fruit of coveting is a life of grasping to fulfill misplaced desires, the fruit of the Spirit is a life of generous love. As we walk by the Spirit, God changes our desires to want what God wants, and to live chasing after that.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that your Spirit sets us free from our old desires. Help us to walk with the Spirit and bear the fruit of new desires to serve and love one another.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Holding Nothing Back” by Jesus Culture (click here).

-CWR

Philipians 3:7-11  (NIV)
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him…10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

“There is a kind of discontent that is pleasing to God. This is the discontent of wanting all of God. The Bible describes this as hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5:6), as the soul panting, fainting, and thirsting after God (Psalm 42:1, 2; 63:1), and as “straining forward to what lies ahead”(Philippians 3:13).” (Fernando, Preaching the Word)

God made us to desire good things. Desire is good. But rather than desire what we see other people have around us, we are called to want the only thing worthy of our desire – to know Christ more.

Prayer: Lord, I rejoice today as I consider the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Fill my heart with desire to know Christ more, to be found in him each moment, and to become more like him.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Build my Life” by Housefires (click here).

-CWR

Philipians 4:12-13  (NIV)
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

“Scripture presents contentment as a spiritual secret. It is one dimension of happiness, which is itself the fruit of a relationship…Knowing the love of Christ is the one and only source from which true contentment ever flows…Look at Paul, a contented man if ever there was one. From prison he wrote, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content…” (Packer, Keeping the Ten Commandments)

It is not our situation that most affects how content we are. We all know people with plenty who are unhappy. It is not the situation, but who we go through it with that is the secret. In Christ we have found the treasure worth more than anything. Let’s pray today for ourselves and for a brother or sister God puts on your heart to experience Christ with them in every situation.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that in Christ we have all we need. Please strengthen and encourage us in the midst of our present situation today with the love of Christ.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “God, You’re So Good” by Passion (click here).

-CWR

Deuteronomy 5:21 (NIV)
21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Matthew 6:19 (NIV)
19 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Put positively, ‘you shall not covet … anything that is your neighbor’s’ is a call to contentment with one’s lot. The contentment that the tenth commandment prescribes is the supreme safeguard against temptations to break commandments five to nine. The discontented man…sees other people as tools to use in order to feed his greed, but the contented man is as free…to concentrate on treating his neighbor rightly.” (Packer, Keeping the Ten Commandments)

We live in a world where desire for earthly treasure causes brokenness and destruction as people take from one another.  But this call to contentment sets the foundation for us to turn and live differently, and to bless others.

Prayer: Lord, search my heart and turn any desire for earthly treasure heavenward today. Help your people to live lives that are marked by contentment so we can keep your commands and point others to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “From Everlasting (Psalm 90)” by Sovereign Grace Music (click here).

-CWR