As a general rule, all people have some form of pride. Everyone wants to be more important than what they really are. This may work for a time for some people who demand attention and respect, but in the long run it will end up smacking them in the face. God says He will confound the wise and He also tells us not to be wise in our own eyes. This pride comes from not acknowledging God or His Word. But we have been forewarned. God in all His infinite wisdom knows that we all have evil and wicked devices in our hearts. That is why He will eventually bring this human pride to it's knees. In God's Word He says He will bring low the ones who exalt themselves and will exalt those who are humble. If you have ever thought you were all that and a bag of chips, odds are God has already dealt with you about that. After that, He will give you the choice of obedience or disobedience. Once God gets your attention and makes you see all your human weaknesses, you will soon realize the One Who is far greater than yourself. This act of humbling is what makes us see that we are all disposable.
This is the journey of all true Christians who have been dragged into the wood shed by God Himself to deal with them on their human condition. It's here that we can get on our knees and cry out for God's help, or we can be stubborn and keep getting our butts kicked. After all, it was this kind of pride that kept the Israelites from reaching their destiny in what would've been an 11 day journey and turned it into a 40 year wilderness journey. They just never wanted to remain humble to the Lord. Their pride kept messing them up and going around and around in the desert without ever reaching the Promised Land. Was this God's fault? No, He gave them explicit instructions but they just didn't heed His call to remain humble. As a result, only 2 of the original people ever made it, that was Joshua and Caleb. What are your odds of making it to the "Promised Land"?
"A false balance and unrighteous dealings are extremely offensive and shamefully sinful to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them." Prov. 11:1-3 (Amplified)
It doesn't get much plainer than this. Anyone who refuses to humble themselves in the sight of the Lord will eventually be destroyed by his own stubborn actions and prideful self. God regards this as offensive and shamefully sinful. But the man who humbles himself will gain godly Wisdom and soundness. This is integrity of a righteous person and God will guide this man or woman all the days of their life. Their journey will not be in vain. Ask yourself this, do you have any idea where you're headed in this life's journey? Is God leading you or do you feel you're on your own?
Jesus used parables to explain these lessons for us today. A parable means an earthly story with a heavenly message. All stories have a moral behind them. Morals are meant to speak to our morales of life. We all have morales, but every once in awhile, we need to check them and see if they are lined up with God's will for us.
In Luke 15, Jesus spoke about the parable of the disobedient young son. We know it better as the Prodigal Son. This gives the perfect example of how we all start out our journey. Being a young man, he thought he deserved what he had coming to him and was going to go out in the world and "do his own thing". No one was going to tell him any differently. I know I've been there a few times myself. We all feel like we're entitled to the good things in life without working for them because we deserve them.
Notice in Luke 15:11, the young son goes to his father and says, "Give me". Those two words are spoken so often even today among children who haven't yet been chastised by the Lord. I use to kid that Mr. Roger's was to blame for our children's behaviors. He always told them "you are special". Children are and should be special but not to the point of being disobedient. No one is that special! We have given in and spoiled our children with love and not enough discipline that they get to a certain age can't be told what to do. Instead they expect things just to be given to them. We are not doing them any favors by trying to be their friends. We need to be responsible adults in teaching them that the world is not fair and they will have to do something in return. But, like the saying goes, "learn the hard way." And hard it is.
So in this parable, this younger son demands that his father give him his portion because he had merely inherited it. He never worked for it. But, he was a man now and wanted to see the world on his own. Like any young irresponsible person, he didn't regard this money with careful thought. It didn't mean that much to him. So, he acted like the big man on campus and impressed people he didn't even know. He loved the feeling it gave him. He was popular, everyone regarded him as their friend, until all his money was gone. As long as he didn't want for anything he was very prideful.
"And when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want." Luke 11:14 (Amplified)
Maybe he never even considered that it takes money constantly coming in in order to live. This takes hard work to make the money. People are alot like this today. Life should be all fun and games, not hard work. Trying to impress people might get you further in this world without working for it. In reality this is not the case and this lesson is often learned too late. This younger son found that out for himself. He was down to nothing and left wanting for everything.
"So he went and forced (glued) himself upon one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed hogs." Luke 11:15 (Amplified)
When you are down to bare bones you have to start begging and humbling yourself. People just aren't going to welcome you in with open arms. He was given a job, but a menial job and he had no choice but to take it. Now all of a sudden he wasn't so important. He soon found out that this wasn't going to cut it. He had to do something extreme. His back was against the wall. Do you know the feeling of being this deperate? I certainly do.
"Then when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and (even food) to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger?" Luke 15:17 (Amplified)
He came to his senses and realized that he was not "all that and a bag of chips". He also realized that he had sinned against God by his disobedience of thinking himself more than what he really was. (Luke 15:18)
It was at this point he came to see his frailty. This is the same point that we come tosee ourselves for who we really are. Face it, we just aren't worthy on our own. Time to get over it! There is only one way to be worthy, His name is Jesus.
"I am no longer worthy to be called your son; (just) make me like one of your hired servants." Luke 15:19 (Amplified)
This is where God gets our attention and we fall on our knees and say, "Lord, just make me...". We humble ourselves and ask God to make us in the image of Christ. We long to be His servant and obey Him. Christ said in John 15:5 that He was the vine and we are the branches and with out Him, we can do nothing! That's pretty simple. Does this mean we are nothing in God's sight? No, we are precious in His sight when we learn to humble ourselves. Remember He regards pride as sinful. God can't look upon sin and pride is the number one reason we are destroyed.
This parable has a happy ending just as it does with our Heavenly Father. When the son admitted his sins, his father was quick to forgive him and welcomed him into his home. He saw it as a reason to celebrate and he prepared a banquet for him.
God tells us the same thing today. When we get our knees and humble ourselves and confess our sins to Him He will then open up His arms and welcome us home. God is quick to forgive our sins when we confess them. He says He is going to celebrate our arrival with a big wedding feast. He also said He will reward us with crowns of Life and Glory if we just humble ourselves and make ourselves servants to Him. He promises that He will give us an inheritance in His kingdom one day. For those who remain in the world and prideful, He says He will make them His footstool. Remember that God promises to exalt those who are humble. It's not being made lowly as being impoverished. It's being made lowly to be lifted up and highly favored by God.
Where do you want to end up in the end of your journey? Being a humble servant to Jesus Christ will reserve your place at the banquet table with Him and such a party we have never seen the likes of here on this earth.
I don't know about you but I'm doing everything I can to secure my name in that Book of Life so I will be invited to that gala. My human pride is nothing compared to being humble and considered upright and righteous in the sight of the Lord God Almighty.
If you have teenagers at home or know of any who are saying, "give me" right now, please tell them this parable and make them see how important it is that they go to God and ask Him to "make me" instead.
On this road through life, it's important to remember that when we humble ourselves, we will find God's blessings as we obey Him.
Vivian Gordon writes inspirational and spiritual articles in which to help strengthen the Believer's walk in Christ. They are often taken from today's point of view and used in conjunction with what God says about certain situations and how we are to handle them. There is always an answer for every problem. These articles are not all about asking God "why?" but in finding the answers.