ENVYING OTHERS

Eccl. 4:4  Then I observed that most people are motivated to success by their envy of their neighbors.  But this, too, is meaningless, like chasing the wind.

       Do you envy others?  Where is it getting you?  Think about it.  If you are motivated to do whatever you can do to get ahead because others are more successful than you, you are probably a mess.  No matter how hard you try, you will find yourself always falling behind what others are doing.  Comparing yourself to others is always a losing game.  You will not be satisfied because you are not as successful as others, and you will become proud because you are better than others. 

       Success is a relative thing.  We all measure success in different ways.  The only success that will satisfy the soul is living right with God.  It is enough to simply know that God is with us, living in us, working in us, and working through us.  Everything else is meaningless in life.  The sooner we understand this truth, the better chance we have of being successful in life.

      What is it going to really matter when you are dying what you have accomplished in this world?  What will help you to die in peace?  Will you really care then how big your bank account is or how many possessions you own?  Will it really matter how much influence you have on others?  Will your lifework matter to you?  When you know you are breathing your last few breaths of life, nothing will matter to you, except perhaps your thoughts about what is next. 

     What will matter when we are on the threshold of death is where we will spend eternity.  We will want to know that we will be in heaven and not hell.  Very few people will be in total denial that there is an eternity awaiting them.  The sad thing is that most want to wait until they know that they are dying before they take eternity seriously.  They live in denial that death is unpredictable.  No one knows when they will die.  Waiting for that unknown and unpredictable day is foolishness.  Death is but one breath away for all of us.

      Don’t mess around and wait to be ready to die.  Live each moment in Christ and you will not be caught off guard.  Don’t take the opportunity the Lord is giving you to live rightly with Him lightly or for granted.  If you die today without Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity in hell.