Envy is a feeling of discontent, resentment, and begrudging, aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck. It’s simply desiring the resources and opportunities someone else has so that we can purchase and create the life we fantasize about. We may not want a person’s specific home, vehicles, talents, or spouse, but we may want their finances and charisma so we can have a similar life. James chapter 3 and verses 14 16 allow us to see how this is a very serious spiritual problem. “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”

It was 1974, my senior year in high school and boy; did we have some movies to see. There was the hilarious Blazing Saddles, the Towering Inferno, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Young Frankenstein and the epic gangster film, The Godfather Part II. Michael Corleone, portrayed by Al Pacino. He described how his father raised him to survive against power struggles and mainly, betrayals. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won Best Picture. Of the nominations, six took home Oscars. Today’s would-be gangsters impersonate thugs, but they are mice compared to the Corleone crime family of Vito, Sonny, Fredo and their ruffians and Mafia hitmen.

Do you remember that old song in Vacation Bible School that said, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart? Do you still have it today? I hope you do, because as God’s children we have lots to be joyful about. Be edified as you read I Thessalonians 5:16-18, and Romans 12:12. Humanity has always sought contentment within their souls, but rebellion and a lack of understanding are huge joy crashers. In Hosea 4:6, God’s word declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” and He continues to talk about how the masses reject His truth. What knowledge and what truth? He’s simply talking about knowing who He is and following Him. We notice God uses the word “destroyed” because without knowing about the divine realities of absolute truth, we will not comprehend the danger of living without being born again. Oh sure, people can be moral and even somewhat religious, but many have never experienced a life-changing encounter with the one who created them. On the outside, they might seem content, but within their spirit, they are not developing into the person God wants them to become.

Sometimes it’s not easy to eat crow. Something about the feathers doesn’t taste well. And then there are those nasty anisodactyl feet – four toes, one of them points backward. They are scaly and hard to get down. Swallowing the bird that eats dead meat, you know – carrion, just turns my stomach. Consuming a scavenger, like a buzzard, a rat or a crow, is downright distasteful. So does admitting I was wrong. A colloquial idiom, eating crow, is to admit one’s words have been proven wrong. Since discovering the three-part movie series, Reacher, starring Tom Cruise, this writer became a huge fan of the character of the titular name. Based on the novels by Lee Child, the shows are about a former military policeman, Jack Reacher, whose travels across the country presents him with opportunities to solve crimes. His style of street justice gets things done.