Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Hearing a pastor share a funny but eye-opening experience recently, reminded me of a necessary experience we all need to have, namely the need to be brought back down to reality every once in a while. James 4:10 says: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” It is a reminder for us to keep a proper perspective of life as well as of ourselves and “not to think more highly of ourselves than we should”, as Romans 12:3 advises us. Many you are not like most people, but in their case, when they are riding high and everything is going well for them, they tend to think that they’ve “got it all together”, so to speak, not realizing they are being set up for a fall. Proverbs 16:18 says that “pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Because the Lord knows it is a human inclination to think more highly of ourselves than we should when things are working well in our lives, He gives us advance warning in His Word, like the previous verse, so that we can avoid a painful or embarrassing experience down the road. I remember an experience I had some time back at church one Sunday after the service was over. It had been an exceptionally good week, The Lord had answered some of our pressing prayers, the attendance was great, the parking lot was full, and my sermon had been very well received. The church was almost empty and I was feeling pretty good about myself. To me, it was an obvious sign that I was “doing things right.” As I walked up to the water fountain to take a drink, there was a little boy from Sunday School still walking around in the back. As I passed Him, he cried out in a strong voice, “Hi there, Pastor Mike!” I had begun to think that I was a “hot shot’ and one of our church kids didn’t even know who I was. Apparently, he didn't know who Pastor Mike was either. Besides, Bro Mike and I may have the same last name but we definitely do not look alike.
Let it be known that I have had “come back down to earth” experiences much more embarrassing than that one. The point that I want to make, however, is that we all need such experiences in our lives from time to time, and if we don’t stay humble or make it a practice to humble ourselves before the Lord, He will find ways of doing it for us. No, He doesn’t want to embarrass us for sport, He just wants us to be better life examples for Him, and keep us from something more painful later on. Lets keep it real, folks.
Memory verse for the week: (Matthew 6:33 KJV) “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
