Verse of the day: Genesis 26:14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.
In verse 12 we saw that God blessed Isaac and his family abundantly, even in the midst of a famine. Here, we see the Philistines reaction to how God was blessing them. The green monster of envy reared its ugly head. When God blesses us, or others, there exists a possibility that we can react in a way that can cause us to sin by becoming ungrateful for what God is doing in our lives, or be persecuted by those who see us being blessed. If we, who are born again believers, fail to learn how to give thanks in everything, as we are to in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, then we will become envious of what God is doing in the lives of others, and how He is blessing them. We become blind to the blessings in our own lives. I said yesterday that God blesses us in many forms, but we sometimes miss it because we expect blessings to be packaged a certain way. Sadly, when we fail to recognize those blessings, and our focus is on what God is doing for others, we open ourselves up to being jealous of what others have. According to Galatians 5, envy is a deed, or work, of the flesh. Like the Apostle Paul, in Philippians 4, we must learn to be content in whatever state we are in, whether we have much or little; whatever God chooses to bless us with. 1 Peter 2 tells us to put aside envy, and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word. Envy drove Cain to murder his brother Abel (Genesis 4). Hebrews 13:5-6 tell us not to be covetous, but be satisfied that we have the Lord, because He will never leave us nor forsake us, and the greatest blessing we can have as a born again believer is God Himself working in our lives, being our Helper. Proverbs 23:17 tells us not to let our hearts envy sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD always. It can be so difficult to watch the unsaved prosper while we have less. However, in Christ, we will not suffer want, because we already know He provides for all our needs. Whatever the unsaved enjoy now will not compare to what the Lord has in store for us when we go to be with Him forevermore; and what the unsaved have will not be worth the enternal condemnation they will suffer if they do not repent and call upon Jesus as their Savior. Whatever blessings others appear to have in their lives should not take away from whatever the Lord is doing in our lives. We only see blessings as those things that God does for us and give us, but there is also great blessing in what God chooses not to give us; because it is often the things He chooses not to give us that will entangle us and draw us away from Him. The flip side of this coin is that others see how God is blessing us, and they will criticize us, and even accuse us of being materialistic. Those who were called friends may, in their jealousy, become as enemies. Tomorrow, we will see what a great example Isaac set for us in his reaction to the Philistines' jealousy toward him because of God's blessings toward him and his family.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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