Humility Before Honor

Indeed, God desires to bless His children. In fact, not just His children for "...he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mat 5:45). It is in God's unalterable nature to be gracious. So gracious is He that He "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up, for us all, how then shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Rom 8:32). "All things", however, has taken on a new meaning for most Christians. It has now mutated into the acquisition of the world's symbols of success, of being lauded by others as a person of power and influence, of living a hardship-free existence. This is not what God's blessing must mean to a blood-bought child of God. In fact, we are promised tribulation by none other than our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. But He doesn't leave us in that predicament. He gave His Word, the Word that fashioned worlds, that in Him we can overcome the pain, disappointments, heartaches, and sufferings that must inevitably befall His disciples. Let us hearken to His words: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (Joh 16:33)

One of the things that stick so tenaciously to even a Christian is the need for honor. We want to be the head of the pack. We want to be "the man". We want to be the one who "gets things done". There is all the biblical support for being the best that we can be in everything we put our hands to, but this is quite different from that virulent scourge of pride that often ravages our souls and leaves us as either demigods or burned-out vagabonds. What is the way out of this? In light of the biblical warning that "pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Pro 16:18), how do we overcome pride in our souls? The same way all enemies of our souls are overcome: THROUGH CHRIST.

If we have based our self-worth, our hopes, our dreams--our future--on CHRIST, pride must naturally fade away. We are given the injunction to "be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (1Pe 5:5) What could be a more daunting prospect than to have God resist you--to have Him resist your proud flauntings by a withholding of His grace? But then, what could be a greater source of joy and power than to be assured of a continuous supply of this grace--the grace that feeds you, clothes you, places you within a loving family, gives you the physical and mental strength to hold a job--the grace that saved you from your former wretched life?

The lower you go, the more real His grace becomes! It truly is AMAZING!