DAY 58 Read numbers 15 and 16.
Today's reading recounts the tragic results of harboring a spirit of envy. In this case envy ripened into open revolt, and only divine intervention prevented a coup.
Memory gem: "He [Aaron] stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed" (Numbers 16:48).
Thought for today:
One snare that the evil one uses is found in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;...Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Envy has been the downfall and the defeat of many individuals, saints included. The brothers of Joseph envied him so much that they sold him into bondage (see Genesis 37).
It was because Korah, Datham, and Abiram "envied Moses also in the camp" (Psalm 106:16-18) that they were swallowed up as the earth opened and a fire was kindled in their company.
It was because "the Jews which believed not [were] moved with envy" (Acts 17:85) that they tried to kill Paul. It is often because of envy that mankind gets into trouble. James tells us: "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work" (James 3:16).
No man is safe from this sin until he has learned to rejoice in the success of others. The musician who cannot bear to hear or see another musician praised is of small caliber. The scientist who is unliberal in his estimate of the accomplishments of other scientists is unworthy of the name. The preacher who is jealous of the success of other preachers and fails to give them due credit had better watch his own Christianity.
In Canterbury Tales envy is represented as of two species: "Sorrow at othermen's weal [happiness] and joy at other men's harm"
Today's reading recounts the tragic results of harboring a spirit of envy. In this case envy ripened into open revolt, and only divine intervention prevented a coup.
Memory gem: "He [Aaron] stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed" (Numbers 16:48).
Thought for today:
One snare that the evil one uses is found in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;...Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Envy has been the downfall and the defeat of many individuals, saints included. The brothers of Joseph envied him so much that they sold him into bondage (see Genesis 37).
It was because Korah, Datham, and Abiram "envied Moses also in the camp" (Psalm 106:16-18) that they were swallowed up as the earth opened and a fire was kindled in their company.
It was because "the Jews which believed not [were] moved with envy" (Acts 17:85) that they tried to kill Paul. It is often because of envy that mankind gets into trouble. James tells us: "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work" (James 3:16).
No man is safe from this sin until he has learned to rejoice in the success of others. The musician who cannot bear to hear or see another musician praised is of small caliber. The scientist who is unliberal in his estimate of the accomplishments of other scientists is unworthy of the name. The preacher who is jealous of the success of other preachers and fails to give them due credit had better watch his own Christianity.
In Canterbury Tales envy is represented as of two species: "Sorrow at othermen's weal [happiness] and joy at other men's harm"
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