Envy

If I were to sit down to read my Bible merely for pleasure, Proverbs wouldn't be the book inside that I would turn to. There are any number of other books where the words just jump off the pages and shine in my heart. A few of these, in no particular order, are Genesis, Revelation, Psalms, John, Romans, Ephesians and Colossians. In a heartbeat I could start reading from them and feel the excitement of God's story come alive. But Proverbs? Not so much.

Proverbs is classified as wisdom literature, but sometimes in reading all the short sayings that make up so much of the book, wisdom seems kind of hard to see, particularly wisdom that fits into the overall storyline of the Bible, which is wisdom that points to Christ.

And with that mindset I was reading Proverbs the other day. Not because I was looking for delight, but because it was what came up for my Bible reading plan. Reading through the New Testament and Psalms twice a year, and the remainder of the Old Testament once a year, means that for roughly a week to a month each year, I read from Proverbs.

As I read Proverbs 23 I saw this in verse 17:

"Let not your heart envy sinners,

but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day."

On this particular reading of Proverbs that word "envy" caught my attention, because envy runs through my mind a lot. I'm not going to spell out any examples but just ask you to trust me that there are many of them, and that they are varied to many situations in life.

The proverb reminds me that while envy takes place in my mind, the real trouble is with my heart. There is dissatisfaction in my heart over the way a thing might be at a particular time, because my heart is not seeking rest in something that is true all of the time.

The thing that is true is that I have faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord.

For the believer, fear of the Lord is not so much being afraid of God, as having deep reverence for him. When we think about the holiness, righteousness and justice of God there is good reason to be afraid of him, especially if we are living without faith. But with faith, which means trusting in Jesus, alone, to be forgiven of sin against God, we grow in reverence for the one who has rescued us and promises to hold us as his own forever.

That is the truth that needs to fill my heart more and more, so that envy has no place to take root. There really is no comparison between having saving faith on the one hand, and anything I could possibly desire to hold in the other hand.

Writing this is making me excited to see what previously overlooked gem I'll find tomorrow in Proverbs 25!

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.