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8/21 Reading Portions: 1 Samuel 13; Romans 11; Jeremiah 50; Psalms 28-29
Genesis 12:9
And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
NEGEB
Abram’s journey southward may also be a reflection of Christian humility. One of the willful, arrogant, and rebellious trats of Satan is a northward attitude, as it is written,
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;’” Isaiah 14:13
Humility is one of the foremost characteristics of Christian belief and behavior. Indeed, to our shame, we have all suffered from a momentary lapse of humility. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, was not immune from sinful pride. Sin rides upon the coattails of pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. It is written,
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
The reason why humility is such a preeminent characteristic of Christian behavior is because the Lord Jesus’ sojourn upon the planet during His earthly habitation was the utmost example of humility the universe has ever witnessed or will ever witness—God taking upon Himself human flesh to live humbly as a Man, as it is written,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8
The irony of the Christian’s living a humble life is this: That because of the corruption remaining in our redeemed but mortal flesh, we tend to work up humility as if it was a deed to be done rather than a grace to be embraced. We are all familiar with the New Testament commands like, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you” (Jas 4:10), and “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you” (1 Pet 5:6). Sadly, we often focus upon the exaltation, seeing humility as a means to get there. Here is the heavenly irony of those two verses: In Christ, we are already exalted; so, the question remains—how do we humble ourselves?
In yesterday’s devotional we recognized how our decisions in Christ are, by God’s providence, opportunities to exalt Christ. In the devotional thought before that, we considered how we need only trust Christ and call upon His name when we struggle in our providential situations and circumstances. Humility comes as simply as the previous two actions: We are to look upon Christ Jesus, just as simply as when we were first saved. It is written,
Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22, KJV
It was in turning to Jesus, looking upon Him for who He is and what He has done, that saved you and me from the eternal damnation that we deserve; for our sins committed against Him and for the holy worship omitted from rendering to Him. But now that we have been saved by God’s grace, every true, grace-filled, Christ-exalting, God-glorified look upon Jesus, who humbled Himself in His southward sojourn from heaven, also saves us daily from the pride, arrogance, and haughtiness that so easily besets us.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!