A word of warning from Deuteronomy

The book of Deuteronomy, particularly its first half, includes all kinds of strongly-worded warnings about the dangers of falling away from God. In this post, I turn to one such warning, appearing in Deuteronomy 11:16 (ESV),

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.

This is an easy-to-memorize verse that should guide our steps ever day. We must avoid all modern (and ancient) forms of idolatry.

Just to pick one form of modern idolatry: Do we ever become covetous? That is, do we ever desire something we don't have, to the point that that desire affects our mood and attitude toward others? My guess is that we all, to some extent, engage in this kind of behavior every day.

This is the exact kind of behavior which Deuteronomy 11:16 warns against. (In fact, one of the Ten Commandments explicitly forbids covetousness!) Let us keep this verse on the front of our minds today as we pray.