Coveting. It’s something inside us. Out of all the commandments, it feels like the easiest one to break. I mean it all started with Eve… eyeing that shiny fruit. She had to have it.
I remember as a young girl, there wasn’t any Pinterest or Instagram, but send me over to this certain girl’s house. She had it all. A gorgeous room with a high bed and all the cute decor. She even had a table for doing her and makeup. It was like a dream. She had the perfect hair, was great at gymnastics, perfect skin, all the kids wanted to be her friend. Even her notebooks and pens were cute. I remember always wanting to recreate what she had into my own life.
Somehow it never worked.
I got a perm. I wanted those curls like she had. Mine turned out just a frizzier version of me.
As I got older, still no Pinterest Instagram, but boy do I remember the early years of marriage and how the Pottery Barn catalog would arrive in the mail. I would pore over it and get lost in those photos. Once I put it down though, I was back in reality, my house with sort of mish-mash of decor that was really inexpensive. It just never felt the same.
I can’t even imagine if in those earlier years Pinterest and Instagram existed. My coveting heart at those young ages was able to sin quite enough without all of that.
These days, my heart is able to handle the pull of perfect decor and perfect hair and perfect stuff, because I don’t crave it as much anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I can start to go down the wrong road with one wrong click on my Instagram feed of a beautiful home or outfit. But I am quickly brought back to reality. My beautiful reality.
I have Jesus.
He grounds me and shows me what matters most in life. He anchors me and I don’t feel the need to find security in externals. He gives me something to look forward to (eternity) and that makes the present look different. I don’t try to find joy in things but am content with joy in Him, that will be forever.
And that is the most beautiful there is. No need to covet in the present here on earth when you long for Jesus, and you have it all.
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