Tiny Devotional for RED Friday, 06-23-2023

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Remember Everyone Deployed.


Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of the Lord always.
Proverbs 23:17, NASB

In my earliest days (1973) as a Christian believer, I was in the Army in Germany, surrounded by other young men and women from all over the country, with all SORTS of church backgrounds. I don’t know exactly how many conversations I had about ‘fear of the Lord.’ but it was a LOT.

I quickly grew tired of it, because the conversations always took the same form:

“They told me I had to fear God, and I don’t like that. That’s why I’m high on hash/Mandrax/smack all the time.”

Today, I wouldn’t engage in that conversation for more than, say, 15 seconds. Back then, though, I didn’t realize people lied in order to justify their substance abuse. 
So, I tried to explain this wasn’t terror-fear; it was reverence-fear. And, while that was true, it never worked, because theirs was a bogus objection from the beginning.

This is a contrast proverb.

The first line says ‘don’t long for the things sinners have.’ How does that contrast with ‘live in fear of the Lord’?

Some translations say ‘reverence’, ‘respect’, or ‘zeal’ instead of ‘fear’; I suggest ‘amazement’ is an entirely appropriate substitute.

And that gives us something like:

‘Don’t long for the things sinners have,
But live in constant amazement of God’s presence in your life.’
When we are living in constant amazement of God’s work in our lives, we don’t even NOTICE the things the sinners have, much less envy them. 
(And if we aren’t envying them, we can actually love them.)

Peace be on your household. 

Comments

  1. BobDJune 23, 2023 at 9:57 AM

    Ok, you did it again! I had read ahead, and had come up with my own ideas, and you got up to the plate and knocked me right into the park! I kinda like it here! Keep up the good work, it's Amazing! (Sorry, I couldnt resist, I'll see myself out)

    ReplyDelete
  2. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandJune 24, 2023 at 6:39 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandJune 24, 2023 at 6:41 AM

    Amen my Brother Pat, you've said it well, Don't long for sinners have, but live in constant amazement of God's presence in our life, and that's a wonderful statement to read. Praise God for it!

    ReplyDelete

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