The Ten Commandments: Don’t Be Envious

The Ten Commandments: Don’t Be Envious

Bible Blast: Read Proverbs 14:30

You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17

William was a poor stonecutter. He worked very hard, cutting giant mountain rocks into smaller stones, but he was happy. One day William went to a rich man’s house and couldn’t believe the things he saw!

That night, William said, “I wish I were rich so I could have a castle, a fluffy bed, and curtains of gold fabric!” The next morning he woke up in a fluffy white bed surrounded by gold curtains, and his little shack had turned into a castle!

One day he saw a prince in a beautiful carriage. William became unhappy and wished, “If only I were a prince!” The next morning he woke up as a prince and found himself in a beautiful carriage.

He enjoyed himself until he realized the carriage wasn’t able to block the heat of the sun. “The sun is more powerful than I am! If only I were the sun!” So the next morning William woke up in the sky as the bright golden sun. He was pleased until a cloud stopped right in front of him.

William was upset. “If only I were a cloud!” The next morning, William was a big cloud that began dropping rain day after day. Rivers overflowed, and towns were flooded. The only things unaffected by the rain were the big rocks on the side of the mountain. So William said, “Oh, if only I could be a giant rock!” The next day, he was quite content to be a strong rock and took a rest. His slumber was interrupted by a tap, tap, tapping. A stonecutter was chipping away at the rock. William felt weak. “That man has more power than I do! If only I could be that man!”

The next morning, William woke in the old straw bed of his old little shack. He went out right away and began working on the big rocks on the moutainside—finally happy as himself.

Girl Gab: When you “covet” something, you want what someone else has so badly that you obsess about it, thinking about it all the time. Are there things you covet that your friends have? Ask God to help you be thankful and content with what you have today.