Mark 10:17-21 “ Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
One thing that our Friday night small group Bible study agrees on, is that our pride is an on-going battle this side of heaven. How craft-fully the Devil tempts, how coercively the spiritually-blind world influences, and how masterfully the sinful flesh, from the fall in the Garden, plays upon our desires to lure each of us away from the righteous and fruitful will and ways of our Lord God, whom truly provides and we truly depend. The physical flesh feeds on experiences and so easily self-deceived. We are blind until our blindness is revealed by God in spiritual discernment, then everything changes. Jesus was telling this “rich, young Ruler and us, that the kingdom of God requires our first allegiance and before anything and everything else, we must give up all the “substitute gods” that we worship. Our heavenly Father is not going to alter His first commandment; “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). This is not a matter of “do” right, but a matter of “be” right before God. Know our Lord God, crucify the sinful nature and walk in His Spirit (Galatians 16 7 24-25). God is love and teaches His children to run this race wisely by His holy and perfect will and way, so we may experience life abundantly, lacking nothing..
Ephesians 5:15 “Be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.”
In Christ, Brian
2 comments:
Pride, the downfall of mankind. :( We all struggle with pride and when you think you are not then you seriously are. :s How does that saying go? When you think you are humble that's when you know that you really aren't.
Thanks for sharing,
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I suffer from pride...on a daily basis. Thank you for the timely reminder. Can't remember which movie, but the last line was the devil speaking. He said, "Pride. Gets 'em every time!"
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