Pride

Who is Satan? Where did he come from? Did God create him? Why did he fall? These are important questions that believers need to answer in order to be battle ready. Yesterday, we noted that Satan was created as a powerful and beautiful angel before his desire to de-throne God. We considered Isaiah 14, where Satan desired to make himself “like the Most High.” Let’s set the context for today’s passage.

Where does temptation come from? Does it come from our own desires that wage war within us? Does it come from the world, a culture that opposes God? Or does all temptation come from Satan? Do we blame our sin on ourselves, the anti-God culture, or Satan?

Have you ever caught a fox? Neither have I. But I am assuming that chasing and catching a fox would be quite a feat. Solomon uses this picture of catching foxes to remind us of little things that can do considerable damage.

It was going to be a tough meeting. Those sitting around the table had some real issues with each other. You could feel the tension—so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the saying goes. I knew this time together could blow up in my face.

In this passage, Solomon proclaims what the rest of Scripture confirms: God is in complete control of all things. He is omnipotent; all-powerful. This means that whatever God desires to do, he will get it done. If he desires something straight, it will be straight and remain straight. If he wants something crooked, it will be crooked and remain crooked. Of course, God’s desires, decisions, and actions will always be perfect. 

We know that education is essential in getting out of the slums, and we also know that a high score on placement exams does not transform the human heart. Without Jesus, the more we know, the sadder we become. But with Jesus, we can use the gift of knowledge to worship and honor him all our days under the sun.

So how are you doing? You up there on the mountaintop of career…you up there with the trophies of accomplishment. Be careful up there in the heights! A slippery slope surrounds the peak of success. It’s a long, hard, painful slide to the bottom. If you are not careful, success will produce pride, and pride always comes before a fall. 

Fearing the Lord is not living in terror and dread of him. That’s what Martin Luther called servile fear—a prisoner waiting to be tortured or executed. Rather, fearing God is a filial fear (filial in Latin means family). This fear is love, awe, and respect for the One who provides us with security and fills us with significance.

Scripture describes those who refuse repeated warnings as “stiff-necked.” Their pride will not allow them to “bend” to others. They will live life in their time frame and on their terms. It will seem to them, for a while at least, that they were right and everybody else was wrong.