"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long."
Proverbs 23:17
We will look at what this verse teaches believers in three parts.
Part 1
“Let not thine heart envy sinners:”
Guard your heart! Do not want what a sinner has, and do not desire to do what a sinner does.
Years ago, when I was in college studying for the ministry, each weekend the ministerial students would leave the campus to go out and serve in various ministries throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Traveling hundreds of miles each semester on “extension” was a joyful adventure which eventually led me into some envy. I didn’t have a car of my own, but my dad let me drive his 1967 Volkswagen Beetle, which I really enjoyed doing. For me, the problem came when week after week those big, fancy, expensive cars would blow past me on the interstate highway, and I would begin feeling sorry for myself. I was completely satisfied with my “wheels” until I started comparing what I was driving to what the other guys were driving. Their cars were big, mine wasn’t. Their cars were fast, mine wasn’t. Their cars were new and nice looking, mine wasn’t! And then I would get spiritual to try and impress the Lord with my great sacrifice, “Lord, you know I’m training to serve you. You know I love you, and you know how good I would look in one of those other cars, you know the new ones. Lord, the guys driving those cars may not even know you and look at what they have. I’m trying to be faithful to you and look what I’m driving…” And then the Lord would remind me, “Yes, this life is the best those guys will ever know, for you my child, the best is yet to come!” Rebuked, I adjusted my attitude and continued on to my place of ministry in “Ole Blue…”
Here’s a lesson that was hard for me to learn,
“But godliness with contentment is great gain,” (1 Timothy 6:6).
If I’m going to serve the LORD, godliness is vital. But so is “contentment.” If my heart is not content with the LORD and His provision, I will never be a good servant for Him.
Why does the LORD tell believers not to envy sinners? Come back tomorrow and see.