Tranquility

Pastor Duck's Weekly Column

Taiwan Church News, 2663, March 16, 2003

Translated by David Alexander

A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion (envy) makes the bones rot. (Proverbs 14:30)

   Only God knows why my uncle was an alcoholic. I remember the home where he and my aunt lived with their five children.  It was rather messy and chaotic.  My uncle died while I was still in high school.  I didn't know him well at all.

   My father once told me that, before I was born, he and my mother had bought a new car.  It wasn't "the best model available", but it was new.  He said that my uncle and his wife had soon gone out and bought a new car, too.  A car that was "one step above" the one my parents had bought, even though they couldn't afford it.

   Only God knows why my uncle was an alcoholic, but I suspect part of what contributed to his condition and his early death was envy of his big brother, my father.

   There are many reasons why we might want to excel.  We may want to demonstrate the greatness of our abilities, we may want to fulfill goals that we have set for ourselves, we may want to do great things for God.  All of these can be done from the foundation of a mind that is tranquil and secure in relationship to God and others.

   It is when our motivation for excellence stems from envy of another that what we attempt begins to have negative effects on us.  We lose connection with God's will in our drive to accomplish an action against another.  Even attempts to defeat Satan will "rot our bones" if our motivation is to do harm.

   Call upon the Lord, that the Holy Spirit might transform your mind from within, giving you a tranquility from which you can fulfill your goals, do great things for God, and demonstrate the greatness of the God who gave you your talents and abilities.

Prayer: Meet our ambition with your tranquility, O Lord, that we may live and not rot. AMEN