Be Humble!

Jan 23, 2020

‘…no…messenger [is] greater than the one who sent him.’John 13:16 NIV

One of the reasons God chose John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus’ is because he was humble. He’s introduced simply as a ‘…voice…crying in the wilderness’ (Mark 1:3 NKJV), with no pretentious preambles or fancy titles. Many notable saints came before John, but Jesus said, ‘…Among those born…no one has arisen greater than John…’ (Matthew 11:11 NRSV) John had no hidden agenda or overblown ego; his message was: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ (John 3:30 NKJV)

John Barnett says: ‘Pride is the sin of competing with God… it makes me self-reliant, self-absorbed, self-deceived, self-confident, self-conscious, self-sufficient, self-satisfied, self-focused, self-centred and self-driven. It makes me unreliable, because nobody can tell me what to do…unloving, because I won’t sacrifice for you…unteachable, because you can’t correct me…competitive, because I will always try to outdo you. Humility means not always having to be asked, reminded and recognised …I go round looking for ways to serve.’

Somebody asked Hudson Taylor, ‘Are you conscious of the way God has prospered you in the China Inland Mission? I doubt any man has had greater honour.’ Taylor replied, ‘I don’t see it like that. I think God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough to use so that all the glory might be His…and He found me.’ Bottom line: ‘God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets Himself against those who are proud.’ (1 Peter 5:5 TLB) So, be humble!

SoulFood: Exo 39–40, Matt 9:14–26, Ps 91, Pro 3:3–4
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©