Dear Friend,
A young seminary graduate came up to the pulpit, very self-confident
and immaculately dressed. He began to deliver his first sermon in his first
church and the words simply would not come out. Finally, he burst into tears
and ended up leaving the platform obviously humbled by his performance.
There were two older ladies sitting in the front row, and one
turned to the other and said, “if he had come in like he went out, he would
have gone out like he came in.”
Humility is a key quality of the one who wants to be a servant of
God. There is always the temptation to exalt ourselves and glorify our own
accomplishments. However, to do so can be very dangerous. In Acts 12 we read
the consequences of King Herod's refusal to give glory to God.
“On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his
throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the
voice of a God, not of a man, and immediately, because Herod did not give
praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms
and died.” Acts 12: 21-23.
The Lord is a jealous God, and he will not share his glory with
man. Isaiah writes, “I am the Lord; That is my name! I will not give my glory
to another or my praise to idols.” Isaiah 42:8.
The best way to avoid the consequences of pride is to remember
what F. B. Meyer once wrote: “I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves
one above the other and that the taller we grow in Christian character the more
easily we can reach them. I now find that God's gifts are on shelves one
beneath the other and that it is not a question of growing taller but of
stooping lower.”
In the words of one of one of my former middle school students who
had mastered the lesson on humility: "Be humble or you’ll stumble.” Good
words for each of us to remember.
Yours in faith,
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