Thou Shalt Not Be Greedy

Exodus 20:1-22 New Living Translation (NLT)

Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community
20 Then God gave the people all these instructions[a]:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

3 “You must not have any other god but me.

4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those[b] who love me and obey my commands.

7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You must not murder.

14 “You must not commit adultery.

15 “You must not steal.

16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

17 “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.”

18 When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

19 And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

20 “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

21 As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Proper Use of Altars
22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven.

Footnotes:
20:1 Hebrew all these words.
20:6 Hebrew for thousands of those.

Love the Ten Commandments. Love that God was so specific and yet simple. Love that God didn't go on and on but said what needed to be said and that was that. Love that God  called Moses to gather all the people so they could all hear the commands being given. I think we forget this. Usually we hear about the commandments being brought down the mountain in stone tablet form, but forget that they were spoken first.  There is importance in speaking them first.

I also have noticed over the years that all ten commandments are based on greed.  Think about it: 

Wanting other gods: greed.

Wanting our own idols: greed.

Wanting to use God's name any way we want: greed.

Wanting to work every day possible to make more money to buy more stuff: greed.

Too busy, too self centered to honor our parents: greed.

Wanting someone else's life: greed.

Wanting someone else's spouse: greed.

Wanting someone else's stuff: greed.

Wanting to get someone else in trouble: greed.

Wanting what is your neighbor's: greed. 

Maybe we just need one commandment:
Thou shalt not be greedy.