Pride
If your reading this I won’t know it. Not because I couldn’t, but because I choose not to. When I first created this site I would get excited when anyone visited. I would see how many visitors, how long they stayed and where they were from? I would rush to my husband in excitement. Then would instantly feel bad. Although I wanted nothing to do with it, pride tried to sweep in. I immediately stopped viewing any analytics. Because this is for God’s glory, not mine. Pride is ugly.
Babylon was prosperous. It’s king, Nebuchadnezzar, worshiped false gods. Then he witnessed the miraculous signs and wonders of the one true God. He acknowledged Him as the Most High. Mighty. Eternal. And Sovereign. However, just twelve months later pride swept in. Standing on his royal palace roof he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30) He took all God’s glory as his own. So, God instantly stripped the king of his royal authority. He decreed he would live and eat among the wild animals until he acknowledged the Most High is Sovereign. We’ve all heard, “Pride comes before the fall.” Well, this king fell far. He was driven away from people. Ate grass with cattle. Was so wet with dew, “His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” (Daniel 4:34)
Our world is clothed in pride. We must not conform. Instead we need to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. Our pride is ugly, and it’s humility that is our beauty. Having a spirit in right standing with God is what we are to be clothed in.
The king did eventually humble himself. He said, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.” (Daniel 4:34) After acknowledging his rightful position before God he was restored and more prosperous than ever before. God knows how to humble the proud. And our mighty God can lift us up if we humble ourselves. Let’s choose humility everyday and flee from pride.