ONE EXPENSIVE OMELET

Exodus 20:2-17
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. . . . 7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. . . . 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. . . . 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 "You shall not murder. 14 "You shall not commit adultery. 15 "You shall not steal. 16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

If you are ever in Manhattan and want a bit of wallet shock, stop by the Le Parker Meridian, an upscale hotel on West 57th Street. If you grab a menu at Norma's, the Meridian's restaurant, you will find a most outrageously priced breakfast item: a $1,000 omelet. Virginia Marnell, one of Norma's customers, said that when she first noticed the addition to the menu, she "thought it was the calorie count."

The omelet consists of six eggs, a lobster, and ten ounces of sevruga caviar, a delicacy ringing in at $65 an ounce. I don't know the exact size of the final concoction, but the cost of a single bite shoots into double digits.

After reading this story, I found myself wanting to see it, even wanting to try it. I would never have imagined that a $1,000 omelet even existed, and as ridiculous as the notion of such a high-priced extravagance is, I suddenly had a craving. Understand this--I don't care for lobster, and I get a little queasy with the whole idea of caviar. Fish eggs just don't entice me.

But all of a sudden, a $1,000 omelet seemed like something I just might need to have. While I have been a longstanding fan of Waffle House, with its greasy eggs and runny grits, my old breakfast joint just doesn't seem the same when I know that somewhere, someplace, there's an omelet of immensely superior quality and of vastly higher value than the one I can get at my 24-hour diner.

We all covet things we don't need, don't really want, and probably wouldn't even like all that much if we had them. But we don't have them. And that's the dark pull of greed and desire run amiss: to grab something that isn't ours, to consume something just so we can. It's a destructive force, breeding contempt for what God in His goodness has provided--and it goes against His clear command (Exodus 20:17).

Skip the "omelet." There are much better things on the menu. --Winn Collier

DESTINATION POINTS

* What good things has God provided for me?
* Are there things God has provided for others that I am covetous of?
* How can I determine the difference between healthy desires and sinful coveting?

LINKS:
Le Grand Omelet
The Comparison Trap

bottom line: To covet is to deny God's good provision.

soul journey