In the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 13, vs. 1-11, 15-16, prophet Jeremiah writes,
This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not wash it." So I bought the belt as the LORD directed me and put it around my waist. Then the LORD gave me another message: "Take the linen belt you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks." [Away from the care of the owner - master - LORD.] So I went and hid it at the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me.
A long time afterward, the LORD said to me, "Go back to the Euphrates and get the linen belt that I told you to hide there." So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was mildewed and falling apart. The belt was useless. [The atmosphere or the elements to which the belt was exposed to in the cool, damp, wet soil caused mildew and it ate away at the belt. A sin filled, worldly life will have the same effect on our bodies and our spirit. In the begining it may look like we are in control, then comes a time where it will own you.] Then I received this message from the LORD: "The LORD says: This illustrates how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship idols. [What are the idols in your life?] Therefore, they will become like this linen belt - good for nothing! As a belt clings to a person's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, "says the LORD." They were to be my people, my pride, my glory - an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me...
...Listen! Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the dark mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness.King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon learned this the hard way. As the king stood atop his palace roof and looked out across the city of Babylon, he said to himself, "Just look at this great city of Babylon! I, by my own mighty power, have built this beautiful city as my royal residence and as an expression of my royal splendor." As he stood there filled with pride, the Bible in the Book of Daniel 4:31-32 says, "While he was still speaking these words a voice called down from heaven, 'O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you ! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.'
Another person who got a lesson in God's hatred of man's pride, but was too late to profit from it, was King Herod. Book of Acts, chapter 12 speaks of King Herod making a speech to a delegation from Tyre and Sidon. The Bible says in Acts 12:21-23, "...When the day arrived Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne and made a speech to them. The people gave him a great ovation, shouting. "It is the voice of a god, not of a man!" Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people's worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died."
God gave Nebuchadnezzar an opportunity to learn from his mistake and he did well, and God restored him. The Book of Daniel 4:36-37, Nebuchadnezzar is quoted as saying, "When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and officers sought me out, and I was reestablished as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble those who are proud."
If God has to rot away your pride, it will be a painful process, everything you trust in, rely on and take pride in, he will remove one by one to teach complete dependence on him. If you think of a fruit rotting after a worm gets into it, its a slow process. From within the rot starts, the splendor fades, the aroma fades, the taste fades, until it becomes unappealing. Pride is like that worm in the fruit.
God wants his children to cling to him, like that linen belt around Jeremiah's waist. This thought runs completely contrary to our present day society where independence and self identity (or self promotion) is the theme of the day! Pride does not allow for dependence on God, it's all about ME, MYSELF and I! It's about who I am, What I do, What I have, Which address do I live at, What clubs do I belong to, What labels do I wear... If God is clothed in glory, we who are his handiwork should display his glory from within us. When you realize your dependence on God and submit yourself in to his hand, he will display his glory and his might through you - as he did through the shepherd boy who slew the Philistine giant Goliath - King David. The book of Zechariah 4:6, it is said, " it is not by force, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty."
Jesus Christ himself teaches you in Mathew 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls." To a humble and gentle God, who took humanity's sin upon himself, PRIDE he hates; in fact the Bible states, God abhors human pride.
Pride tears apart families, husbands from wives, fathers from their children, brother from brother, sister from sister, tears a country apart, causes ethnic cleansing/violences around the world, and prevents man from recoganizing God; if only we would recoganize PRIDE in our lives! My God, I pray for your grace in my life (for there is so much in me that needs change), to be humble and gentle as my savior, the LORD God Almighty himself!
Paul recognizes (in 2Corinthians 10:5) that it is the proud arguments that keep people from knowing God. May God help us to bear a good testimony, as Paul says, spotless and unrebukeable, until the end of time.
When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor... James 4:10
Jeremy Camp - lay down my pride
God bless you!
