God looks with favour on the humble Isaiah 66:2b
One of the greatest absurdities in this world, is human pride. We all live in the earth that God created, eat the food that He provides, and breathe His air. All provided for us by His sustaining power and love. Yet, people break God’s Laws repeatedly. In our world, one of the few certainties is that each one of us will die. The Christian faith says that we all will then appear before our Creator for the evaluation of our lives. The incongruity of human pride is that it cannot tolerate this prospect, but invents scenarios such as total oblivion, or instant admission to heaven.
Pride focuses on human independence, self sufficiency, power and progress, not on the fragility of our health and the inevitability of death. Pride makes it easy to think we are good at heart and our failings were not our fault. It does not consider that our moral failings, are the result of fallen human nature.
The Bible uses humour to deflate the proud person. Jesus used absurd images, like- logs in the eye, swallowing camels and blind guides. He used satire to demonstrate humility.
God’s standard of excellence is so high that as we try to live up to it, we are faced with our inability to reach it. To try, is to be reminded again of our ultimate need for the mercy of God. We could think, as we strive toward a standard that we can never reach in this life, that frustration must result. But, in our inability to live completely Christ like lives, note two vital points; Firstly, the entire Christian faith hinges on the promise of God, through Jesus, to forgive those who come to Him in humility and faith. Without this promise, Christian faith would not exist. It means that true Christians need never fear that because of falling short, they will be rejected. Our attitude must be gratitude for having already forgiven us. This not because we deserved it, but because of what Jesus did on our behalf and which we received by accepting salvation as a free gift.
Secondly, even though we inevitably fall short of the standard of Christlikeness, as we strive towards it, the more we become better humans and display to those around us the qualities of courage, forgiveness, humility and love.
Remember the incident in the Temple, where Jesus pointed out the widow, who had put all she had into the collection box. A humble person, without much, but Jesus wanted us to see her as a shining example of how we can use what we have to make a difference.
Reference; True Heroism, by D. Keyes.
Isaiah 29:19 Once more, the humble will rejoice in the Lord.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people humble themselves….then I will forgive them.
1 Peter 5:5 God shows favour to the humble.
Psalms 18:27 You save the humble, but humiliate the high and mighty.
Isaiah 2:12 The Lord has a day in store for the proud- they will be humbled.
Ecclesiasticus 7:17 Humble yourself to the uttermost, for the doom of the ungodly is fire and worms.
Zephaniah 2:3....seek righteousness, seek humility and it may be that you will find shelter on the day of the Lord’s vengeance. ,
The Prophetic Word 