Main point: Joy in the absence of evil.
This is the prayer of Jabez. Jabez prays for a few different things. His prayer is focused in on among a list of genealogies. One of the things he prays for is that God would keep him from evil, that it might not grieve him. He prays to be kept away from evil and not just that, but he understand that if he is not kept from evil, he will have grief. He understood that a life of sin is actually a sorrowful life. He prays to be kept away from the evil, away from the sorrow, and kept in the joy of living for God.
I need to remember this. There is sorrow in living for sin and joy in living for Jesus. Don’t be fooled, the life of sin is not true joy. It may be fun and make me happy for a little while, but then it will go away. The joy I have in Jesus is forever and much better. Spare myself from grief. Stick with the Lord.
This shows the gospel in showing the difference that a life redeemed by Jesus has. When, by faith in Jesus, one gets saved, the power of sin is killed and the joy of salvation is established. Joy in the absence of evil.
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