An All Day Struggle

“Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.” (Pr 23:17 AV)

Bear with me as I muse within the writing of this devotion.  What struck my mind was the underlined phrase above.  The phrase is not merely a throw-off phrase to mean, in a general sense, to be in the fear of the LORD.  Although that would be a really good idea.  The phrase means the literal day time as opposed to night time.  In other words, to avoid envy, we should walk in the fear of the LORD every moment of our waking lives.  If this is the case, then there are several suggestions.  First, envy would be such a powerful sin that it would constantly be before our eyes every waking moment of our lives.  Second, envy is such a powerful pitfall that once we fell into it, it would take an entire day of fearing the LORD to escape that pit of envy.  To be envious means to be zealously jealous.  Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines envy as, “To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another's prosperity; to fret or grieve one's self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account”.  Envy is usually based on accurate observation of the success of another.  But not always.

I had (actually still have) a sibling who with him, we defined sibling rivalry.  As we grew up together, he made it a point to get involved in or try everything that I tried.  The problem with this sibling rivalry was he was generally better at anything I tired.  Even his personality was more outgoing than mine, so he became more popular.  First, there was Boy Scouts.  I campaigned and earn the position of patrol leader.  He ran the next time and beat me.  Several times.  ARG.  Then there was the guitar.  Sure enough, he is far better at playing it than I.  There was baseball, paper routes, and part-time jobs.  There was popularity, grades, and even when we accepted Christ, there were ministry opportunities.  This went on for many years.  I had a hard time because there was no reason to blame him for exceeding my efforts in the same areas.  He generally was more gifted them me in most areas of life.  For years I struggled with envy.  Why was the LORD blessing him and not me?  Why, given the amount of time and assurance of purpose, do I feel like I am always coming up short.  Funny thing is, with envy, we seem to be focused only on a person’s successes compared with our failures and fail to see other areas in which the LORD has blessed us.

The fear of the LORD is the cure for envy for a very good reason.  When we fear the LORD, we will trust His plan for our lives is the best plan possible.  Our life is not arbitrary.  It is not one thing or another as long as the dice come out right.  The LORD created us for a purpose and has gifted us with ten, five, or one talent depending on what His plan might be.  Being content with the level of talents is the key to being content with that which the LORD has accomplished in one’s life.  Fearing the LORD also means we are grateful for all that the LORD has provided.  Including abilities and talents.  If we envy what others can do, we are ungrateful for that which the LORD has given us.  An unknown author writes, “Many Christians are like that person who, one day, looked extremely sad.  One who knew him well said, "Either some great evil has happened to him, or some great good to another.””  Envy, as it appears above, might be one of those temptations which hound us day in a day out.  As we compare our lives or possessions to those around us, we are dissatisfied with our station in life.  As we see what appears to be injustice, we are not reminded we are also shown grace and do not always suffer for our wrongs.  Proverbs 14:30 says, “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”  It most certainly is.  Fearing the LORD all our waking moments is the best cure to avoid envy altogether.