This chapter focuses on “the day of the Lord”, which is essentially the end of this known world. God will judge sin and deal with it harshly, including those who have not repented of their sin. Anything and anyone that does not glorify God will not continue past “the day of the Lord”.
“For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up – and it shall be brought low; And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” (v12, 17, 22)
What is pride? Essentially it’s a large part of our sinful nature – that natural tendency to want our way above God’s will. The sinister part is pride will blind us to pride. When we’re being prideful, we can often convince ourselves (or rather the devil will convince us) that we’re not being prideful.
For example, when someone thanks me for my service in some area, even if it’s a missional pursuit, part of me begins craving that recognition. Seeking the approval of people over God’s approval is a form of pride, and it’s one of many super easy traps into which we can fall, often unintentionally. Is wanting to be recognized for doing God’s work a bad thing? It can be (or lead to) pride.
Pride is so ingrained in our sinful nature that it becomes part of who we are, usually by accident. I don’t think most people set out to intentionally become more prideful, it happens slowly over time without any effort. I think of pride kind of like weeds in a garden – it takes hard work and persistence to keep the weeds out of a garden, but all it takes is a little bit of complacency over a relatively short period of time for the weeds to completely take over.
I encourage us to humble ourselves consistently, and often. This means plucking weeds out of our garden, making an intentional effort to keep pride from taking over. Humbling ourselves can look different for everyone, and what I find helps me is spending time with God – in scripture, in prayer, and in service. Every time we put God’s will ahead of our own we pull another weed, and are one step closer to being a humbler person. Every time we choose our will over God’s, we let another weed spring up. Don’t worry, God is eager to get His hands dirty helping us pull weeds if we ask Him.
Father God, our Glorious and Patient Lord, You are our provider and our strength. We praise You for doing the dirty work of helping keep us free from pride. Please continue to gently remind us and help us remove pride from our lives, one weed at a time. Please keep us well-maintained and well-watered through Your word and presence so we may bear good fruit. May we abide in Jesus the Vine, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and remaining humble and healthy in our relationships with You. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training