By Pastor Doug Cox

As a young boy one of my favorite TV shows was Daniel Boone. I loved trying to emulate his life by stalking imaginary Indians, and hunting our property with my bb gun. I also set muskrat traps along the creek that skirted our land. I was hoping to sell their fur so I could buy candy. I was always disappointed by empty traps, obviously I didn’t have very good trap setting skills.

I could imagine a muskrat swimming up to my traps, recognizing the danger and then swimming away. As Christians we should be as skilled because setting traps is something the devil is very good at and any one of us can get caught in one if we are not careful. Today we will look at two common traps to avoid, the traps of envy and strife.

The Apostle James writes about these deadly twins saying, “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” (James 3:14-16 NKJV) These verses should be eye-opening to all of us. How bitter envy and self-seeking have their source in demonic wisdom and that these attitudes and emotions can open the door to confusion and every evil thing.

Bitter envy come from a Greek word ‘zelos’ that implies a fierce desire to promote one’s own ideas and convictions to the exclusion of everyone else. It describes a person being so fixated, obsessed and fanatical about his own cause that others perceive him as an extremist or militant. This person becomes so preoccupied, obsessed and gripped with his own view of things that he won’t hear or consider the view of others. James says if this describes you don’t lie against the truth.

Self-seeking is translated strife in the KJV and comes from the Greek word ‘eritheia.’ Ancient Greeks used it to describe a political party. The party is formed by agreeing on certain ideas and agenda. These parties were/are willing to fight fiercely to be in control and call the shots and can be so blinded by their platform of ideas that they have no tolerance for anyone who sees things differently. The result is it opens the door for “confusion and every evil thing” to operate.

Confusion comes from the Greek word ‘akatastasia’ and describes civil disobedience, disorder and anarchy in any organization. Confusion in our lives puts a smile on the devil’s face because he knows anarchy can lead to the destruction of relationships, marriages, families, churches and the list goes on.

The word evil is interesting and comes from the Greek word ‘phaulos.’ It describes something very terrible and foul. Thinking back to my elementary days of playing Daniel Boone. If I had found a dead rabbit crawling with maggots, I would never have slung it over my shoulder and carried it home as a trophy. But that’s what happens when people let their bitter envy and self-seeking dominate to the end. They might win a battle, but it stinks in the end.

Prayer – Lord please give us discernment to swim away from the demonic whispers of demonic wisdom. Help us not be caught by deadly obsessions. Keep us from being trapped by bitterness, envy, strife and self-seeking. Help us operate in what James calls “wisdom from above.” He writes, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17 NKJV)