Proverbs 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long
Recently the daughter of Hollywood royalty wrote an expose of sorts about how the rich and famous live in Hollywood. From what I understand, it was not extremely flattering. She talked about how so many in Hollywood are obsessed with being important, better than the next person, and are essentially panicked at the thought of not living up to their own airbrushed image. Before you start looking down your nose at Hollywood elites, you should realize there is some of that in all of us.
Maybe you remember junior high. You finished that and thought, “I am done with that, the peer pressure and the trying to be better, to fit in, and be part of the in group.” Then you got to be thirty-five and realized that you are trying to do the exact same thing on social media right now. Many times we end up envying the wrong people or we envy the right people, if that is possible, but for the wrong reasons.
The Bible speaks to this quite a bit. Proverbs 23:17 says, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.” There is a contrast between envying sinners and living well, living in wisdom. That is what is important. A lot of times people sin because they wish to be rich. They wish to be rich because they think it will make them happy. The Bible goes on to say, “For surely there is an end: and thine expectation shall not be cut off.”
This is an idea you find at least four other times in Proverbs, considering what you should expect from the life you are leading right now. It is an age-old problem to envy people who are doing what is wrong because they seem to be getting away with it at the moment or because sinning seems to in some way make them better or happier. Psalm 37:1 says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.”
Their day is coming. Before you envy how someone lives, consider how they die. We are such short-sighted beings when we look at what is happening right now and how we feel in the moment. We don’t think about where our actions, choices, and decisions will end. There is an end. Ecclesiastes 7 says, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” Why is that? It is partly because you see where the actions you are taking lead you.
Ecclesiastes 7 also says that going to a funeral is more beneficial than going to a party. I would far rather go to a birthday party and celebrate birth than recognize death, yet the funerals I have been to this year have all been thought-provoking. They made me pause and think, “What did this life mean and what does my life mean? What really matters in life?”
Hebrews 13 says, “Remember them which have the rule over you…considering the end of their conversation.” If you are going to follow someone, think about where the path leads and what should you expect from the actions. Where do they go? Psalm 37 says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” We shouldn’t conflate sin and wealth. We certainly should not confuse wealth and happiness. “Let not thine heart envy sinners.” It is talking about sin, not about wealth. Don’t envy sinners, but in contrast it says, “Be in the fear of the LORD all the day long.” That is what brings wisdom and a clear path in life.
In short, we should be looking for that blessed hope that is provided us through the work of the Lord Jesus and through the work of the same one who gives wisdom to those who seek it from Him. Remember what matters today. Before you envy how someone lives, consider where that leads, consider what you can expect, consider how that person dies.Remember what matters in life and ask God to help you to do that.