Give us Life
Proverb 22: 4
The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life.
A funny thing happened on the way to the . . . .
You’ve heard that old joke but it happened to me today on my way to another verse. This 22nd proverb just jumped out and caught me. I hope God caused it to leap off of the page for the Word of the Day, rather than it being a personal message for me. Eeither way, this scripture is seriously worth considering.
Most of us revere the Lord, which is what this “fear the Lord” means. So I don’t see that part as a problem for any of us. I suppose we could each take a moment and question how highly we esteem our Lord. Having done, though, I suspect that the larger problem that many of us need to deal with is humility. We have seen that humility is a pretty big issue with God. In the last couple of months we have seen half a dozen scriptures which either specifically talk about humility or which deal with the subject. It is certainly in our self-interest to be humble. First of all, people do not like arrogant people so we will have better friendships if we walk in humility but look at today’s passage. With humility also comes honor, riches and life. Well, we want life don’t we? So we need to pay attention to whether or not we really are humble.
The real question, I think, is, “Would other people describe me as humble.” You see, we are not always accurate assessors of ourselves. Think about your friends and family. Would they say you are a humble person? That is the test.
You know, Jesus, for all his power was a humble person. Do your remember this statement from Matthew 11: 29, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” That makes one think. How can anyone of us be proud and arrogant when Jesus was humble? What do we think we have that makes us so special? Well, I can tell you that the only thing that I have that makes me special is Jesus.
So, here is what you do. Pray. Ask the Lord Jesus if you ever demonstrate arrogance or pride. Wait and let him answer. Many of us will be confronted with an uncomfortable truth but that is okay. The next step is to ask the Lord to take that out of you. Pray for his help because you cannot do this on your own. Ask him to continue his work in you making you into the image of himself. He will help you. He cannot do it without you, though. You are the master of your own house and he will not violate your sovereignty. However, he is poised, waiting and wanting to transform you into that beautiful creation that you were always destined to be. Do not hesitate in having this conversation with Jesus. Do it today because the longer you wait the longer you are denying yourself riches, honor and life.
