“The Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” Amos 6:8
Here’s a hypothetical. John was a regular ol’ joe. A working class guy living an average life in an average house with an average car. He worked hard, put himself through college and had a good job. He wasn’t wealthy by any means but lived a nice average lifestyle. In fact, by the current US economic data he was right at the peak of the bell curve in being average in almost every category. But one day John’s life changed, he won the lottery, 100 million dollars. Overnight the changes happened. The interviews, the press, the constant attention. But the real change to John happened not externally but internally. The constant attention elevated not only John’s lifestyle but his image of himself. He could now buy anything he wanted and thus bought a Ferrari and a tidy little mansion in the best neighborhood in his city. And as a result people looked at him differently. Which only encouraged John to look at himself differently. So what’s the point to our hypothetical? What really changed in John? He was the same guy, with the same education, and the same principles as before, yet here he was now a seemingly completely different individual. Friends, in this life, like John in our hypothetical, we are constantly at battle with one of the most cunning, one of the most stealthy enemies in existence…our prideful drive for the elevation of self-importance.
What’s curious about the prophetic book of Amos is that God didn’t send Amos during a time of war, drought, famine, or pestilence like he did most of the other pre and post-exilic prophets. God sent Amos during a time of plenty. A boom time in the history of Israel. As a result of God’s blessing, Israel was experiencing a time of economic prosperity like never before. There was freedom from war, plenty of food, an abundance of wine, and people even had enough disposable income for luxury items. In fact, archaeologists find a change in the housing in Israel starting in 8th century B.C. They found domestic housing changed from small and modest in adjoining neighborhoods to separate neighborhoods that contained large, expansive houses that contained marks of great prosperity such as ivory and gold fixtures. You see, God didn’t send His prophet Amos to call out judgement against the poor, yet rather the rich. And not the rich in monetary means, but those that had gained enough in this world to become abundantly wealthy in their own self-righteous pride.
There is an inherent evil that secretly lies within our own successes. The more successes we tuck under our own belt, the more we start believing our own hype. I got the great job. I make the money. I bought the house, and I bought the cars, motorcycles, boats and toys. I make the decisions and I make the speeches that people listen to. But living in this prideful formula, what happens to the distance between a prideful heart and his or her creator? Only great expanses of prideful arrogance exist, an ever widening gap between the heart of the created and the intention of the Creator. This exact formula is even directly in play as satan assembled a team of like-hearted angels and challenged God Himself for control of Heaven and was cast out for his arrogant self-serving pride. (Rev. 12:7-12) Of the 58 times God directly addresses pride in the Bible, these three directly confront the point Amos was preaching. God directly opposes those that are proud in themselves.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b
“The Lord resists the proud; but He gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34
Yet what happens to those that deny their self-righteous pride and humble themselves before the Lord and others?
“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:14b
Mankind has and always will struggle with pride. The idea that we are better, we are smarter, and we are more important than those ‘normal’ people next to us. The selfish thinking that what we say is the most important comment in the room. Selfish pride will drive us to believe that our possessions and purchases define us, telling the world of our true value and worth. But folks, you cannot believe your own hype. For just as God sent Amos to prideful hearts, arrogant in their own self-worth to preach to them the truth, He is still preaching that same truth today. And the truth carried within the humble heart carries this message…all that you have is His, given by Him, to be used for Him. The home you live in is His. Your job, your bank account, your stuff, yes, even the very food in your pantry is all His. You see, the biggest tool to fight selfish pride is this…proper placement of ownership. And if you’ve made it to this spiritual place of ownership transferal, then you have realized that God didn’t gift you with all that you have by accident. God gifts us with our talents, passions, and physical treasures to invest them directly back into the kingdom of God. Our lives are not to be spent on selfish comfort and convenience, but on laying invaluable bricks in the building of God’s kingdom.
Today I pray you invest richly in the kingdom of God using all of the time, talent, and treasure that God has entrusted to you. For there are countless souls around this globe that have never heard the truth of Jesus Christ. And it is our job, every believer and follower of Jesus Christ, to deliver that message to the far corners of this Earth. And we will do that in only one way, by resisting our prideful hearts, humbling ourselves before our creator and others, and spending our treasure on God’s kingdom and not on ourselves.
Blessings to you my brothers and sisters in Christ ~ Dan
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