All of a Piece – The Kingdom Curriculum XIV (6)

All of a Piece

“You shall not covet.” Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

And He said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

Still in Force, Still the Way of Wisdom

Let’s not miss a very obvious point of Jesus’ parable about the rich fool. In Jesus’ understanding, the tenth commandment was still in force, and it still represented the way of the wise person. The fool is the one who acts as though the commandments of God are of no consequence. He takes stock of his life, pays attention to the opportunities before him, and gives free rein to base rather than holy desires (Eph. 5:15-17). And we have a strong tendency to do the same.

But if we disregard the tenth commandment, we will quickly give short shrift to them all, for the whole Law of God is all of a piece. So we indulge a little covetousness, stretch the truth a bit here and there, take advantage of others, use the Lord’s Day for other than His purposes. So what? No big deal. The fool in Jesus’ parable thought he could trample the tenth commandment and still know a full and abundant life. Undoubtedly the people listening to this parable knew plenty of folks like that rich fool, people whose only thought in life was for what would make them happy.

Indeed, the parable begins with two brothers coming to Jesus, demanding that He arbitrate a dispute between them about their inheritance. Jesus responded by warning them not to allow covetousness to lead them to violate the other commandments, particularly those that require love for our neighbors. Break the tenth commandment, and you break them all (Jas. 2:10). The commandments are still valid, and they still lead us in the path of wisdom. Our calling is to live like people who expect to be judged by the works that come from obeying–or failing to obey–the holy and righteous and good and liberating Law of God (Rom. 7:12; Jas. 2:12).

The truly happy person is the one who meditates on the Law of God day by day (Ps. 1.1, 2). Order your copy of The Law of God today and take up this discipline with joy. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.