IDEA: Covetousness may lead people to idolatry. TEXT: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them . . . . You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his maleservant, nor his femaleservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:4, 17).

PURPOSE: To help listeners see how covetousness can cause us in spirit to break the second commandment.

We're trying to make the case that covetousness, the tenth commandment, really is a desire strong enough to cause people to break all the other commandments.

I. How could you make the case that covetousness can lurk behind the second commandment, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image"?

Why do you think anyone would worship a bird or a snake or a fish and bow down to it?

Often we feel that the power behind those symbols can give us what we desire.

II. You can see that at work in the last part of the commandment, where the motivation is. "I the Lord your God am a jealous God."

Why do you think that God puts the breaking of this commandment in terms of love for Him or hatred for Him?

Imagine a woman whose husband loves her, but she is lured from his side by a lover who promises to give her nicer clothes, a lavish place to live, exotic food. She turns her back on the man who loves her to pursue "lovers" who seem to offer her far more than she has. That picture is what the prophets used to demonstrate that it is the coveting of other things you believe other gods can give you that cause you to turn your back on God; in that sense you hate him. But to be satisfied with God and really trust Him is the essence of loving Him.

III. We may not think that going to the mall is a religious experience, but we can set up in our homes things that mean more to us than God.

Advertisers today want us to identify with objects, believing that if we drive a particular car or wear certain clothes, we will be successful.