Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com

Scripture: Tenth Commandment:, “You must not burn with desire for another man’s wife, nor envy him for his home, land, servants, oxen, donkeys, nor anything else he owns.“, Deuteronomy 5: 21, The Living Bible
I learned at a very early age that fruit is not good to eat during all stages of development. Especially apples. Little green apples literally turned me green!
It is interesting how we assign a color to many emotions, and to other objects as well. Something that is not fully mature is ‘green,’ as in most fruit. A ‘greenhorn’ is an inexperienced person. The moon is sometimes ‘blue’ - and happens only once in a while, or ‘once in a blue moon.’
If we are too cold, we may turn blue. We can also have the ‘blues’ when we are feeling depressed. A popular song a few years back concerned having “ A blue Christmas without you.”
Scared, we may turn white as a, well, a ghost. Really scared, and even the hairs on your head turn white - overnight! Now that’s scary!
Why is yellow for cowards? A cowardly person “has a yellow streak down their back.”
A black hearted individual is plainly evil.
Rage and anger are red, red hot! The planet Mars is known for its reddish color, and so had the name of the god of war slapped on it. I’ve never known Mars to declare war on anyone, but its color is prejudicial! Prejudice derives from actual colors, too, as in skin, hair, or eyes.
White is associated with heavenly beings in the Bible. Figures robed in white; intense, blinding lights signify the heavenly presence. Doves, the symbol of peace, are colored white. But let’s go back to green. . . . As in “green with envy.”
Was it envy that drove Cain to kill his brother, Abel? The word isn’t used there, but we find that Rachel envied her sister (Genesis 30:1.) Joseph’s brothers envied him, with the result that they sold him into slavery. Peter placed guile, hypocrisies, and envy together (1 Peter 2:1.)
Paul had many things to say about envy, including in his “Love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. “Charity (love) envieth not.”
Read Romans 1:18-32; the wrath of God is against all the godlessness and wickedness of men . . . who are “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.”
1 Timothy 6:4, A teacher of false doctrines “has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind . . .”
Titus 3:3 , “We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
Proverbs: 3:31, “Do not envy a violent man, or choose any of his ways.”
14:30 “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”
27:4, “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy (envy).”
We clearly need to pray that we do not fall prey to envy, because ‘envy’ associates with bad companions!
October 13, 2002