"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Isn't it interesting that this quote comes at the end of a section about how the children of Israel serve as our example of how NOT to be wholly committed to God? What do you really think was their issue? Was it bitterness, was it anger, was it disappointment, or was it their pride and their believing that they were more important than they actually were? As I read another popular passage of Scripture, James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.", I see that it is also at the end of a section concerning how NOT to behave. In the case of the passage in James, we have our eyes opened to the fact that all of our problems stem from a loss of focus. Instead of seeing God as our all-knowing, all-powerful Creator, we treat Him as just another voice in the crowd. Humility is not beating yourself up constantly so that everyone can visibly witness your humility, but rather it is an awareness of who God is and who you are before Him.
Read Isaiah 66:1-2
"Thus says the Lord:
'Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.'"
Reading this passage brings about two thoughts:
1) We serve an almighty, limitless, dominant Deity that needs nothing to be all-powerful and all-knowing. The God we praise and worship together is beyond our wildest imaginations when it comes to His power and His ability. His very breath raised up all mankind, the swipe of His hand destroyed nations, His word created the entire universe... He is so amazing that we cannot even speak a word that adequately describes Him (e.g. awesome? phenomenal? intimidating? dominant?... none of them seem to truly match).
2) This incredible God looks at those who are humble, contrite in spirit, and who have a deep, abiding respect for His word. Wait a minute... this Deity who can snap His fingers and eradicate the entire universe He created is impressed and moved by those who are humble? That is exactly the thought Isaiah shares from the mouth of God. Remember that the next time you believe yourself to be slightly higher than you should... God isn't looking at you, He is looking at the one next to you who respects and honors Him with his/her humility.
Isn't it interesting that this quote comes at the end of a section about how the children of Israel serve as our example of how NOT to be wholly committed to God? What do you really think was their issue? Was it bitterness, was it anger, was it disappointment, or was it their pride and their believing that they were more important than they actually were? As I read another popular passage of Scripture, James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.", I see that it is also at the end of a section concerning how NOT to behave. In the case of the passage in James, we have our eyes opened to the fact that all of our problems stem from a loss of focus. Instead of seeing God as our all-knowing, all-powerful Creator, we treat Him as just another voice in the crowd. Humility is not beating yourself up constantly so that everyone can visibly witness your humility, but rather it is an awareness of who God is and who you are before Him.
Read Isaiah 66:1-2
"Thus says the Lord:
'Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.'"
Reading this passage brings about two thoughts:
1) We serve an almighty, limitless, dominant Deity that needs nothing to be all-powerful and all-knowing. The God we praise and worship together is beyond our wildest imaginations when it comes to His power and His ability. His very breath raised up all mankind, the swipe of His hand destroyed nations, His word created the entire universe... He is so amazing that we cannot even speak a word that adequately describes Him (e.g. awesome? phenomenal? intimidating? dominant?... none of them seem to truly match).
2) This incredible God looks at those who are humble, contrite in spirit, and who have a deep, abiding respect for His word. Wait a minute... this Deity who can snap His fingers and eradicate the entire universe He created is impressed and moved by those who are humble? That is exactly the thought Isaiah shares from the mouth of God. Remember that the next time you believe yourself to be slightly higher than you should... God isn't looking at you, He is looking at the one next to you who respects and honors Him with his/her humility.
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