What Really Matters

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

I read this during my quiet time this morning and I was really struck by these verses. First of all, "Let not your heart envy sinners". Ok, who else besides me gets caught in that trap all the time? I think it's so easy to look at people who don't know God and who have all of this success and "stuff" and just think, "I wish that could be me." I mean, if every good thing comes from God, then why isn't He blessing me more? But then, as I thought about it more, I realized that when I do that, I'm judging success by the world's standards and I'm not fixing my eyes on eternity. It may seem like they have so much more than me in this life, but everything they have is going to burn in the end. As Christians, what do we have to be envious of when we have the promise of eternal life?

"[But] continue in the fear of the Lord all the day." I'm still working out what it really means to fear the Lord. I know it's not about fearing God like we're scared of the bogeyman, but more of a reverent obedience in response to our love for Him. Again, I'm slowly discovering what this means in terms of my walk and still figuring out how I can do this on a day to day basis.

"Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off." I truly love God's promises to us! No matter what our circumstances, God has given us a future and a hope. As Christians, we have so much more to hope in than the things of this present life! We have the privilege of knowing that our eternal future is secure which is so much more important than having all the fame and riches the world can hold.