2 - Checking my Vision
Psalms 37
1. Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
NKJV
First the Psalmist David warns us not to fret because of evildoers.
Now he warns us not to be envious of the workers of iniquity.
So what is iniquity?
Iniquity basically is sin that is practised as a lifestyle. God finds iniquity
highly offensive. Sometimes when people have a lifestyle that is offensive to
God, they seem to get away with it - for a while. When we try to live a blameless
life before God, and we find ourselves struggling, we may look over at the life
of the person who practices iniquity and think that their life is so much easier
than our own.
Then we begin to envy them.
We might envy the way they get their own way so easily - when we seem to have to struggle.
We might envy the way they seem to get away with sin and have all they want.
But the Lord tells us becoming envious of such people only traps our vision in the present.
We need to have a more long-term view of life in such situations.
We need to consider that if we are tempted to begin living by their standards,
our end will be the same as theirs:
They shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Nobody gets away with sin forever. There is a time of accounting.
We need to lift our vision out of comparing ourselves with people who will be
cut down like the grass, and instead begin measuring ourselves by the purpose
for which God has called us into the world.
Prayer:
Father, I am beginning today by focusing on the fact that You have called me
into the world for Your own purposes.
I want to begin placing my attention on fitting in with Your plans and loving
You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, so that You can work out my
circumstances for Your glory and my good,
in Jesus' name,
Amen. |
