Proverb of the Week
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
- Proverbs 23:17-18 (ESV)
This proverb echoes the last of the ten commandments which teaches us to not covet that which belongs to others, but it singles out a particular form of covetousness that seems to consist of envying the lifestyle of those who have profited by ill-gotten gains. It immediately goes on to give the cure for such impulses. That cure consists of fearing, or we might say reverencing, the LORD constantly. That happens to also be the cure for every other sinful impulse as well.
The proverb goes on to remind us that all things in this world are subject to what is still to come, and that is true whether it is the trials of those who seek to live righteously or the carefree pleasures of unrepentant sinners, but when that time comes the hope of those who trust in Christ will not fail.
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