Daily Scripture Threshing for Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Today’s Text: Proverbs 23:12-18
Key Verses: Proverbs 23:17: “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.”
One subtle and probably a most powerful weapon in the hand of the devil is perhaps envy. Its brother, avarice and its sister, jealousy are like it. They are all fallen natures that have poisoned the good heart of many and have significantly slowed down the Christian witness today. They make our minds and hearts go out insatiably wandering and longing through phantom for what we don’t have rather than grateful for what God has given us in His mercy. It is this same evil that makes us envy the ways of the wicked; and despise the righteous.
Nobody is exempt. We are all commanded to “let not thine heart envy sinners.” Our text is one of the exceptional scripture where the spirit of envy is contrasted with fear of the Lord. By the fear of God, we will hallow whatever God has done for us and be grateful for them. A prayer was found in the diary of Andrew Bona, a Scottish preacher and godly man as follows: "This day 20 years ago I preached for the first time as an ordained minister. It is amazing that the Lord has spared me and used me at all. I have no reason to wonder that He used others far more than He does me. Yet envy is my hurt, and today I have been seeking grace to rejoice exceedingly over the usefulness of others, even where it cast me into the shade. Lord, take away this envy from me!"
It is an evil from the heart which desires in others what God has not given us. It is different from jealousy because in its case jealousy despises in others what God has not given us. Both of these evil are from the heart and we are commanded not to let them fester. We are grateful for those officials of king Hezekiah of Judah who helped scribe the words of Solomon: by which we know that we are not just entreated to shun envying sinners, but we are thus commanded. Righteous or sinners, our hearts are not supposed to ever be in envy. God’s people are to be imitators of God and follows the examples of righteous people.
Quote for the Day: "Envy and jealousy are evil seeds of the heart. The earlier gives you unhealthy desire for what others have while the latter makes you despise what they have.” (Simon Olatunji)
Prayer: Dear Lord God, You never planted jealousy and envy in me, the enemy did. I give you full access to my life and being, and ask for a heart of gratitude, godliness and contentment, in Jesus Christ name. Amen.
With all my love and prayer,
Rev Simon Wale Olatunji, PhD
The Darling Bishop (DaBishop),
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