Do You Envy Sinners?
Tuesday's Devotion (3-4-08)
"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off." Proverbs 23:17-18 (KJV)
You know, too many believers are envious of sinners (People who haven't accepted Jesus.) They'll think things like, "That guy has a great house, nice car, and everything... He hasn't even accepted Jesus, I have and I have little to show." I've been there, it's a test of our faith for sure. However, we have to remember that if they know us they're probably envious of us. We may not have a lot of things or money, but we have Jesus. We have peace of mind, not something that the sinners have. We have what's really important, eternal life with Jesus Christ. For that, and that alone we have no reason to envy any man.
We should be in the fear of the Lord always. Fearing the Lord is respecting Him, and obeying His Word, walking in His ways. We should never act out of envy or anything else, besides the fear of the Lord. We should constantly be asking ourselves the old question, "What would Jesus do?" We pray about it if we don't know, we look it up in God's Word (The Bible.) If you do that, the question "What would Jesus do?" will be answered! Now, you won't always find a direct answer to your question in the Bible. But if you reference other situations in the Bible, there is an answer in there to everything that we'll ever encounter. Situations are different, but the answers are often the same. That's where prayer comes into play. Pray and God will direct you!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins as we forgive all those who've sinned against us. Please help us to fear you, to respect you and to do as you would have us to do. Don't let us be envious of anyone. In Jesus name. A-men!
God bless!