Building for ourselves or for God
Pride cometh before the fall. Or more specifically from the Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” When I read the story of the Tower of Babel the word that came out to me the most was the word ‘Ourselves’. “Come let us build OURSELVES a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for OURSELVES’.
I was reminded in my reading that there is a
complete difference between building something for ‘ourselves’ and building
something because God called us to the task. The first focuses on us, the
second upon God. Over and over and over again in the Old Testament we read of
pride creating broken relationships. This has come in many forms from Sampson,
to King Saul, King David and beyond. All these people began with God on their
lips and in their hearts. They began with the intention to Glorify God. Yet in
their success they began to think too much of and for their own glory.
When we are called by God to a task or to build His
Kingdom, be wary that it is our pride that often gets in the way and derails
God’s plans. God led Joshua and the Israelites to victory in the battle of
Jericho and then immediately sent Joshua to Ai to defeat that city as well. As
Joshua gathered three thousand men to assail the city, God stopped Joshua and
said ‘take only three hundred with you. This way when you are victorious with
only three hundred men you will know that it was not by your strength or ability,
but because of me and your obedience to my call.
Challenge: Think of ways in which we declare that
instead of working obediently for God’s glory and his calling we have built up
a Tower for ourselves and for our own name. If you find anything give it over
to God and pray for his direction and his glory to be made manifest.
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