Acts 5:17-18
New International
Version 1984 (NIV1984)
17 Then the high priest and
all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the
apostles and put them in the public jail.
Jealousy, it can cause
us to do things that are not of the Lord.
I am sure these Sadducees thought they were the ones doing the work of
the Lord and then these men come in and take over the show. The people begin to listen to the apostles
and flock to them. This meant they are
no longer listening to the high priest and the men under him.
We need to each examine
ourselves and make sure that there is no jealousy within us when we see a
brother or sister in Christ who has a gift that we do not have. When we begin to wish we had the gift we are
not only attempting to take something from the one God intended to have it, we
are questioning God and His ultimate power, doubting if He is right in not giving
that gift to us. In the same respect if
we look down on someone because they don’t have a specific gift then we are
again questioning God’s authority. We
need to celebrate our gifts with each other, sharing them the way that God
intended. We should never boast about
our gifts because our gifts are from God not from man. If people are attracted to us because of the
words that we share or the miracles we perform, we need to be careful not to
take the glory for ourselves. We are
nothing without Him!
When people are jealous
of the gifts God has given me, I tend to back down, I tend to withdraw into my
shell or at least that is what I want to do.
The next verses will explain what we should do in this case and I would
like to explore that at another time. For today though, let’s remember that jealousy
towards others that are doing God’s work will not stop His work but it will rob
us of much joy.
As you seek Him may you
remember that He has gifted you, use those gifts to bring glory to the
Lord. Don’t be jealous of others gifts
because that only brings heartache upon yourself.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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