“I Don’t Have Anything Left”

Okay, I’ll have to admit I was jealous.

I watched him through my office window as he drove into our parking lot.  He was driving a canary yellow Corvette.  It was a shiny convertible and looked new.  He was a handsome, well-dressed guy.  As he got out of his car, I already began to resent him.

Oh, I didn’t know him.  He called my office earlier in the day and said he needed to talk with someone.  I had no idea why he wanted to talk with me.

We briefly shook hands and I could feel the self-pity within me.  Why was I here?  Why was I doing this?  This guy had what I wanted.  This guy appeared to have it made.

Then he began to speak.  "I don’t have anything left," he said and then he wept.  He told the story of his affair.  This affair cost him dearly.  It cost him his family, as his wife and children had moved out.  His wife had filed for divorce.  He went on to say, "I don’t care anything about my car, or money, or my job.  I just want my family back."

I sat there in that office, across from this broken man.  I silently asked God to forgive me for my stupidity and pride.  I had been jealous of this man.  I was jealous of what I thought he had while I took for granted the treasure I had in Christ.

We talked at length and then I prayed with him.

There are times when I think about this conversation.  I think about this conversation when I begin to feel slighted that somehow someone seems to have something I do not.

The truth?

I am a rich, rich man.  Any man or woman who is in Christ knows something about riches.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:7-8).

It is true.  We have been chosen for riches.

Yet far too often, we become jealous of someone’s luxury car, their fifty-yard-line season tickets, their spring break destination, their good looks, their house, their weekend house on the lake, their ability to make money, their beautiful jewelry, their incredible entertainment system, their huge flat-panel HD television, their expensive clothes, their well-connected friends, etc.

What is it that causes you to feel jealousy toward others?  What is it that causes you to place more value on the treasures that others may be driving than the treasures you have in Christ?