Daily Devotional
Betty Miller shares her daily
devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.
The
Wisdom of God
Verses for the Day:
1 Be not thou
envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2 For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
Proverbs 24:1-2 (AMP):
1 Be not envious of evil
men, nor desire to be with them.
2 For their minds plot oppression and devise violence, and their lips talk of
causing trouble and vexation.
Thoughts
for the Day:
These verses in
Proverbs tell us not to be envious of wicked men and to stay away from their
company. Envy is a very destructive trait. Webster's dictionary definition of
the word "envy" is: 1) a feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's
advantages, possessions, etc.; resentful dislike of another who has something
that one desires. Envy is akin to covetousness. The Bible tells us not to
look at another's possessions and desire them. We are to look to God for the
things that we need. Sometimes the things that someone else has are
totally unsuited for us. God knows what is best for us and His gifts and
provision will never disappoint us. A wise man will not envy others. We
are told that envy leads to other sins in the scripture below.
James 3:13-17:
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a
good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie
not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and
without hypocrisy.
If we yield to
envy and get into strife with others, it will lead to confusion and every evil
work. God's way is one of being gentle and peaceable and having an humble
spirit. Envying is the twin sister to coveting and coveting is listed as one of
the Ten Commandments. The dictionary meaning of the word "covet" is:
1.) to want ardently something that another has; long for with envy.
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant,
nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbour's" (Exodus 20:17).
Why did the sin of covetousness make it
to the list of the Ten Commandments? Surely there are worse
crimes! Actually, the interesting thing about covetousness is that this
sin will lead very easily into other sins. Covetousness opens a huge
door for many sins. Coveting is strongly desiring something that is not
legally ours. When we desire something that belongs to somebody else, we
are guilty of covetousness. This sin is very similar to jealousy. When
we look at somebody else's possessions and would like to have them we
can commit covetousness. When we get into covetousness, it can
lead to thievery. It can lead to idolatry. It can lead to many other
sins. This is why the Lord commands us to not covet what another man
has.
This is a very important commandment
before God. We are not to covet or desire anything that our neighbor
has; neither their house, nor their spouse, nor anything that belongs to
them. Adultery would not be committed if people never coveted the spouse
of another person. This is a sin that can easily lie buried in our
heart. We all need to ask God to examine our life and show us any areas
where we may be coveting, even just in our thoughts.
The Lord said that, "Thou shall not
covet his manservant nor his maidservant." A way that this applies
in our everyday life (because most of us do not have servants to covet)
is coveting someone else’s job or position. A maidservant is one who
helps in the workload of their employer. They make life easier for them.
They don't have to work as hard. It is coveting to look at somebody and
say, "I don't know why I have to work so hard! They don't have to
work as hard as I do."
Now, it’s not wrong to desire those
things that God would do for anybody else. If we need something or would
like something, we just need to go to God and ask Him for it, not long
for things that belong to another. God is not a respecter of persons.
God does not love one person more than He loves another. The only thing
that God is a respecter of is His Word. If we get into the Word of God
and we obey the Word of God, we will become blessed. The simple truth is
that anybody who obeys His Word will enter into the divine flow of God
and by doing that, we enter into His blessings. We enter into His
prosperity and healing. We enter into His joy. We enter into His faith.
We enter into His victory!
When we get into the flow of God and obey
the Word, our marriage will be blessed. Our children will be blessed.
Hallelujah! Good things will begin to happen. God will begin to use us
in ministry. His gifts will begin to flow through us. God didn’t just
say, "Now I think I’ll just use a few special people out here."
He said, "Whosoever will may come."
Verse 2 of our study tells us to
stay away from evil men and not to listen to their talk. If we hang
around those who are wicked, we can be influenced by their evil plots of
destruction and their wicked talking. We must choose to stay away
form evil men and seek God and His ways. That is the way of blessing.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly
Father, I thank You for all You are doing in my life. Lord, I purpose not
to envy nor covet anything that another may have. I am looking to You for
my provision. I believe You will supply all my needs. Lord, You are the
God of everything, so You have an abundant supply of all that I might ever need
or want. Just help me to be content with the things I have today, knowing
that You will send additional things as I ask for them and have need of them and
walk in faith to receive them. Thank You for always taking care of me.
Deliver me from any insecurity or fear and give me the faith to always trust in
Your provision. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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