The Other Guy
This past Sabbath, we heard from Caleb talking about gratefulness and jealousy.
One example of this comes from the story of Jacob and Esau. Esau, as the oldest son, would've received his father's inheritance and birthright. Jacob cheated his brother out of what initially belonged to him. In the end, both brothers despised each other and this has led to a feud that still exists between their descendants today. Don't become too focused on the "other guy." We have to learn to be content with what we have in life and focus on establishing our own strong foundations.
On the flip side to Jacob and Esau's story, there is David and Jonathan. Jonathan would have been king after his father Saul. He saw that Yahweh had anointed David instead. Jonathan had every right to hate David for taking what should have been his. Instead, he risked his life to save David and celebrated in the blessing of his anointing (1 Samuel 20:41-42). Instead of becoming envious, jealous or hateful, it is part of our duty as believers to support, love, protect and be happy for the "other guy."
Another interesting example of jealousy comes from Haman and Mordecai in Esther 3:5-6. Haman was 2nd in command, only under the king. He had power, fame and riches. Mordecai was, by all means, a normal guy. He didn’t have any of the things Haman did, yet he was happy with his life. It was Haman’s lust for money and power that drove him to attempt to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed. When we focus too much on the “other guy,” it often leads us to make rash and destructive decisions.
Finally, there is Yahshua and His siblings. It must have been difficult for them growing up under his shadow so to speak. It was very clear that Yahshua was different and special from a young age. The Bible doesn’t talk too much about His siblings, but, in the end, they accepted him for exactly who He was. The books of James and Jude (2 of Yahshua’s brothers) both start by calling themselves “bond servants of Yahshua.” Ultimately, they dedicated their lives to the “other guy.”
No one truly knows the path that Yahweh has lined up for themselves or for others. Instead of focusing on what someone else has, or what makes them “better,” we should focus on progressing in our own lives and traveling along the path that Yahweh does have for us.
