The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1956-08-23
One Man Looks
At God
(By Charles w. Carlson, Pastor,
St Marks Evangelical Lutheran
Church, Oakland MarylandD

In concluding this series of
articles on the ten commandments,
l want first of all to consider the
last two commandments: You shall
not covet your neighbours house,
You shall not covet your neigh
bor's wife, nor his manservant, nor
his maidSerVant, nor his cattle, nor
anything that is your neighbours
These two commandments have to
do with one thing, basically cOvet-
ing, that is to be filled with a de-
sire that is definitely evil for that
which belongs to someone else.
Perhaps the greatest implication
that this commandment has in oui
time is the desire for so many
people to set the standards of their
living by those of their neighbors,
who for reasons of industry have
a much larger income. II seems
that when some people see larger
automobile or television set in
their neighbours living room, they
just have to match it, whether or
not they can afford it, Far better
is the man who tries as much as
he can to improve his living to the
limits within which he earns his
living, and if another man can af-
ford better accommodations and
furnishings, let him have them.
Coveting is most frustrating type
of sin, since in most cases those who
covet the possessions of their
neighbors cannot afford them, and
they sometimes resort to all sorts
of insidious ways to get them, or
perhaps stretch their credit to the
point where it breaks, and they
break right along with it.
There is, of course a distinction
that must be made between covct-
BUSINESS and the desire for progress
along Christian lines. 1t is certain
ly no sin for man to work hard
and save his money so that he can
improve his home and provide for
his family Just a word of caution
along these lines should be suf-
ficient, however. No matter how
well a man provides for his family,
in the material way, if he will not
provide for the spiritual enrich
ment of his family, he has failed
miserably in raising his family be-
cause families cannot be based
merely on the material areas of
life, because some of the richest
families in our time are also some
of the most miserable because of |
the fact that they have not found !
that "peace which passes all human
that is the most |
precious possession of a child of |
God.
This brings RE to the second |
point of my article for this week, |
and that is a sort of summary of |
what has gone before. During the
past two months or more, we have |
been considering the basic laws of |
God for mans existence as He has
revealed them to us in the Ten
Commandments. | have said this
before, but | feel that it must be
many times over, that I'M
less we follow the laws that God
has set down for us in this life, we
will be miserable failures in the
things that matter most. God has
made us, and not we ourselves; He
knows what is best for us just as
the automobile mechanic knows
what is best for the automobile
The only hope for the world which
God has made is for the creatures
of His handiWork to follow the
ground rules that He has laid
down.
And these basic rules are First
and foremost, You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, and all your mind"
This means more than just an oc-
casional payment of respect to your
God when you feel like going to
church, and nothing else holds your
attention at the time And the sec
ond is just as important: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself;
and this means more than just be-