If you ask the thief why he stole the 35 dollars from the woman, most times, if he’s honest, he will say, “I wanted it.” Naturally, many murders are committed why? For robbery. If you ask the politician why he accepted the bribe, he’ll admit he wanted that 100 grand, or that really nice car, or that really big boat. If we were able to ask Hitler why he took Austria and Poland; if he replied honestly, he’d say he wanted them and the power. He coveted the material and the power.

I don’t offhand remember the name of the Babylonian king, but the Bible makes it clear his motivation for capturing Judah was to take gold. History is full of folks who wanted things, power and fame; so they took them.

I think we can safely say that many horrible, major and minor world events began with lust. In the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.”

Most of us pay do not pay proper attention to the Commandment. Well, it is sort of difficult to measure or punish by humans. I mean, just how many folks are thrown in the county jail because he wanted someone’s really beautiful black stallion. On the other hand, in the old west, if a person took a man’s mount from him, he could end up at the end of a rope.

If somehow, I could wave the proverbial magic stick and rid the minds of all mankind of all covetousness, the world would suddenly become a pretty nice place.

The problem is that we cannot rid the world of coveting. So we must also put up the results: robbery, murder, adultery and wars.

Even so, teaching our youth would likely be a good idea. This by parents, from the pulpits and in the schools. At least I can’t see how it would hurt.

Please permit me this short afterthought. Maybe someone should have told Joe, his family and his friends the virtues of the obedience of The Tenth Commandment.