Bible Reading: Proverbs 16: 1-33
“Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished” – Proverbs 16: 5(KJV).
Pride is a silent killer which finishes man speedily without any warning. It does not just come suddenly, but begins from the heart. The people who have come to the saving knowledge of Christ also find themselves caught in this error that is capable of reducing them to nothing. The Scripture however is loaded with examples of those that were destroyed as a result of this evil seed planted in their heart. It should be clear to us that God does not spare anyone who allows this poison to reside in him.
The likes of Lucifer: “How you are fallen from heaven…” –Isaiah 14:12-15(KJV). Nebuchadnezzar: “… While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar to thee is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee……Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgement: and those who walk in pride he is able to abase” – Dan 4:28-37(KJV). Herod: “Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man”! Then immediately the angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died” – Acts 12:20-23(KJV).
Uzziah shot himself at the foot as a result of this silent killer. He was though a king, but was not allowed by law to perform the sacred duties reserved solely for the priest. “Now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him King in the room of his father Amaziah…But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense” – 2 Chronicles 26:1, 16(KJV). What could have made this king do this? He thought that whatever he did could not be challenged by anyone. Little did he realize that God, who enthroned him, has the power to call him to order.
Is your life like any of the people described above? Check your life lest you are consumed as a result of pride. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud” – Proverbs 16:18-19(KJV). “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility” – Pro. 18:12(KJV). “When pride cometh, then cometh shame…” – Proverbs.11:2a (KJV). We should look at the life of Jesus Christ who humbled Himself to the death on the cross – Philippians 2:8(KJV). Humility is the pathway to life. We are all called to follow this path always! Further reading: Proverbs 21:4(KJV)
Prayer: My Father, uproot every tendency of arrogance and pride from my life in Jesus name.
Rev. Julius Oluwole