Life is full of polar opposites that cannot simultaneously reside within the believer’s heart and life (i.e., truth and lies, love and hate, holiness and sin). Some of these conflicts are familiar and easily identifiable. Yet, the Bible indicates that a similar conflict exists in an individual’s life concerning envy and the fear of the Lord. When a man reflects upon the life of the wicked with envy, he ceases to walk in the fear of the Lord. Why? A man who fears the Lord considers the coming judgment directed toward those who know not God. Every person will stand before the Lord and those who fear the Lord and know the end of the story do not desire to have the lot of the wicked pertaining to this judgment. Every man must choose. Does he choose to walk in the fear of the Lord or does he envy the wicked because his eyes veered away from the Lord?
Imagine the vulnerabilities of a watchman who refuses to keep his eyes open to every possible angle from which danger could arise. No doubt the enemy would scout the land observing the bad habits of the watchman. If the watchman fails to examine each point of entry, the enemy will attack from the unprotected angle. In like manner, believers are to walk circumspectly. The word circumspect means to look all around. Believers are to be sober and vigilant knowing that their enemy, the Devil, “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). God’s enemies always search for the weak spot where the hedge has been cut down or ignored. This is why there is no angle in the believer’s life that can be safely ignored.
