Proverbs 24:1-2 Wise Words #19
The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. This is especially true when an evil person lives on the other side if that fence. Do NOT want what they have!
I want to apologize to all of you who come every day. My husband had a medical appointment about 300 miles from home yesterday. It was a LONG day and I didn’t feel well myself, so, to bed it was. We got home this evening and I wanted time with God and you more than anything else. (Except maybe the Skittles candy I’m eating.)
Today’s wise words are linked quite closely to God’s Ten Commandments. The tenth Commandment states; “You shall not covet.” The “Be not envious” means the same thing. The Cambridge Dictionary puts “covet” as a synonym for “envy”.
Our author is giving instruction to God’s people about wanting what they don’t have but someone else does. This REALLY could have come in ‘handy’ if they would have listened when they were seeking a king of their own “like all the other nations” have. Those nations were “evil”, yet we know what happened. Israel wanted what they had anyway.
These wise words go beyond not being envious of evil people. It goes on to say to STAY AWAY from such people. Why? Because the attitudes of those who we hang around rubs off on us. We have seen examples of this in many places. A couple that come to mind are Rehoboam and his friends, the two women who stood before Solomon, even Elijah and the widow he fed. Each of these encounters led to a change in behavior because of the company involved in the exchange. I seriously wonder if the woman with the living child would have even considered her child might be in danger before her ‘friend’ tried to trick her. Another story about mothers and children is the one where a woman comes to the king complaining that her and another woman had eaten her son but the other woman hid hers. Would the distraught woman have even considered eating her own son if the other hadn’t spoon fed her the plan?
Watch carefully the company you keep! Their ways may spill over into yours.
I will admit that there have been times I wished I had what someone else had. In my case, those “wishes” revolved around body shape and size. I nearly killed myself trying to have what they had. One thing about looking to what others have is we don’t know how the work that went into getting whatever it is that we wish we could have. What did they have to give up along the way? What does it ‘cost’ them; to attain this goal and to keep it. Would we be willing to make that trade? Would that trade end up hurting us, instead of helping us reach our ‘goal’?
EACH person in unique in God’s eyes. He has a plan for every life He ever created. Hanging out with the wrong crowd gets in the way of His perfect plan. Enjoy the gifts He brings to your life and focus there. Yes. I am STILL tempted to see another woman’s body in the store and wish I had it, but that is where it ends. It is a fleeting wish that I quickly tromp down because my GREATEST desire is to please Him. The other woman’s body is NOT what He gifted me with. I am learning to be content. If I ever master that lesson, I’ll let you know. (I’ll probably shout if from the rooftops.)
Father God, thank You that YOU have a plan for my life. Thankyou for taking the time to make me in the first place. Thank you even for the bits and pieces that I don’t really like. You made them especially for me. Help me find the RIGHT kind of people to ‘hang out with’. Those who will build me up instead of searching tearing me down. Let me be that kind of friend too Father!
