Covet: to inordinately desire unjust gain or another's property. (According to the dictionary in the back of my bible)
The first time the subject of Coveting is really addressed in the bible by name is when Moses delivered the 10 commandments of God. We were instructed not to covet our neighbor's house, wife, servants or anything else he owns. That is to the point.
When someone says, "Man I wish I had one of those", is this a violation of one of God's Commandments? No. When a person covets they are willing to do things that are against their nature (in most cases). Wanting is not coveting. Desire is not a form of coveting. The best word that comes to mind is craving. Have you ever craved something. That is the feeling you get when you pass by the candy rack on your way home from a hard stressful day of work and you see that Snickers bar laying there. You can hear the little jingle in your head "Snickers....it REALLY satisfies!". Now you know that supper is about to be served at home but you can actually smell the first wiff of chocolate as the paper is torn back. Your mouth begins to water a little as you remember the last time you bit into one of those peanut filled bars and what usually happens at that point? Be honest.....you pick it up and buy it saying to yourself....no big deal....I will still be hungry enough to eat supper.
What just happened? You just gave in to a little craving. Did it hurt anything...nope. It was painless and no rules were broken. Now don't get me wrong here and think I am saying Snickers bars are a sin thats not what I said. Now you understand what I mean by craving.
Do you collect anything? I fooled around with car swapping a while back and had a great time with it. I would see a friend with a car I wanted (or stranger) and I would say to myself...."I will get him to sell me that car because I just GOT TO HAVE IT!". I meant that. I had to have it. I had to possess it and have my name on the ownership papers. I had to be able to say "Hey check out MY CAR". I had some very nice older model cars. I had this one old 1969 red Chevy ElCamino with a brand new Oldsmobile 455 big block. Talk about a fast car- this was it! I had been driving Police Cars for several years (alot faster than I needed to) but none of them held a candle to this baby. I finally got rid of it becasue I knew I was going to get killed in it if I didn't, and besides I found a good friend with a 1972 CJ-5 Jeep complete with the 5 inch lift and big mud tires and light bar.....you should have seen MY JEEP.
Do you see the cycle here. It is harmless at first but I decided when I laid my eyes on an old car I wanted I was going to get it one way or another. I was not above playing on sympathy or having a friend do a little talking to the owner. I have even used sentimental attachment to get a vehicle from someone. Can you really be "attached" to something like this? You might need to ask yourself that question. I did and the answer was not pretty. I even found myself saying "I need to have that...it would be better if I had it....they don't deserve something that nice or they won't appreciate it like I would". When I gave my life to God I realized how silly things like this are and how they really mean absolutely NOTHING in the long run. Do you know why? That's right because you can't take it with you when you go. I would love to drive up to the pearly gates and hit my automatic door opener to swing them open as I cruise in to ask Jesus "hey have you seen MY CAR?". See my point?
Jesus provided me play toys from time to time and they were fun but I had to realize that they were just that....toys. God does not care what car we drive, how many rare coins we have, how big our tool box is or really about any of our "things". He left us ONE thing behind we should hold above everything else and that is the Bible. Don't let your cravings get the best of you. If you feel a craving for something and your spending your time thinking of ways to "sneak and get it" I have a recomendation for you. Get on your knees and pray and ask God to help you fight your cravings. Then go get that Snickers bar....they are very satisfying.
Read Romans 13:9 (Yes you need to open your bible for this)
God Bless you all from a humble servant of Jesus Christ.