OUR DAILY BREAD             Friday, May 19, 1995
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READ: Psalm 73:1-17    

                
                DON'T TRADE PLACES  

     "It was too painful for me -- until I went 
             into the sanctuary of God.  

                         - Psalm 73:16-17 

Envy is a temptation we all have to deal with.  The 
people of God may wonder if a disciplined life is worth 
it when they look at the pleasures of those who reject
and even mock God.

It's hard to watch people who live a lifestyle of
luxury from ill-gotten gain.  They have everything 
they ever want -- palatial homes, luxury cars,
expensive furniture, fine clothes, the latest sports
equipment.

They never seem to have any trouble.  Their lives seem 
so free from care.  They have no burdens.  They laugh
off things that would bury us.  It can really get to
you.  It makes you wonder if godliness is worthwhile.

That's what happened to Asaph.  He wrote, "My feet
had almost stumbled....For I was envious of the boastful
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Ps. 73:2-3).
But then Asaph went to the house of God, and his
perspective was restored as he considered the final
destiny of the wicked (v. 17).

When you begin to envy the wealth of the ungodly and
wish you could trade places with them, just remember
where they are headed.  In the world to come they will wish
they could trade everything they ever had for just one
moment of relief.
                                -- David C. Egner

        The wicked seem to prosper now
           And live without a care,
         But they will spend eternity
            In terror and despair.
                                -- Sper
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           THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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 Don't let the magnetic attraction of worldly
     pleasures draw you away from God.
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Job 18-20  
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