GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 24:1-2
24 Do not envy wicked men;
do not wish you could be with them.
2 for their hearts plan violence
and their lips talk about making trouble.
Here Solomon recalls Psalm 1, which urges believers not to walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers (Ps. 1:1). If a wicked man has a nicer car than you, or nicer clothes, or influence over people you wish you had, then consider what you do have, which is the promise of eternal life. You have forgiveness for your sins; the wicked man has only guilt and everlasting shame and punishment. Remember wicked Haman and his scheme to destroy the people of God, and how the king ordered that “this should come back on his own head” (Esther 9:25).
Wishing that we can be like a wicked man is finally a sin against the First Commandment, but it probably involves most or all of the Commandments. It’s an expression of being discontent; discontent with the gifts God gives, with my station in life, with the pattern of my life, with the people in my life. But God has placed us where we are for a reason. What if Moses had been too afraid to go to Pharaoh? What if Peter, Andrew, James and John had decided that they didn’t want to give up fishing? What if Paul had hung his head after becoming a Christian and never tried to reach out with the gospel to anyone? What if Mary had been so afraid of the change a baby would bring to her life that she had gotten an abortion?
Consider what God has given you and give him glory with everything you say and do. Be amazing with your faith. God put you where you are for a purpose in his kingdom. You may not know what that purpose is, but serve God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Be faithful with God’s holy word, and you will be who he wants you to be.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2019
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota