Humble Thyself...

HUMBLE THYSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD
Whether He Saves…
“And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace”* has been shared as the Gospel message for years before the “God loves you so accept Him” version appeared. The Bible tells us, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10,11). We Christians know that those who do not confess our God now will one day depart to a place where teeth are gnashed with much weeping, but does our knowledge ignite unbelievers’ fearful trepidations? If they are anything like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it won’t. Their reply to such a challenge was this; “We have no need to answer you… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand*.” But their faithfulness to their God did not depend only upon salvation, “But if not, be it known to you… that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image*.”

I have great respect for those willing to believe their “god” will rescue them from the fiery furnace we Christians call “Hell,” but I wonder if their faith will stand even when their gods (or lack thereof) do not save. Can they say, “We will not serve your God or worship Him?” According to His word, they will worship whether He saves them or not. Is my faith in God strong enough that I can say the same? “Lord I will serve you whether you save me from my troubles or not. I will serve you whether the flames singe my flesh or not.”

“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned… for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa 43:3).

* Dan 3:6, 16-18

I am Nothing…
Can you believe that these words, “How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (Dan 4:3) were spoken by the king of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar looked at all he had accomplished and said, “I.” This was the same for Job who boasted that if he had an audience with God he would, “give an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach Him” (Job 31:37). Nebby was dispatched from the world of men until his nails were like bird’s claws and he ate grass like it was a salad bar. Then when his reason returned he praised God in the heavens and said, “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing… for all His works are right and His ways just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble” (Dan 4:35, 37). Job’s answer to God was far more self-reflexive, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5,6).

I told my friend the other day that to trust in God, you must lose your trust in man. Because I know that I often fail myself, I also realize that everyone else in this world will fail me as well. No one cares for me as much as I do for myself, apart from One who was willing to sacrifice all for my pitiful soul. Those who truly came face to face with God, experiencing His power personally and not merely hearing about Him second-hand, inevitably look at themselves and think, “I am nothing, but my God is everything.” Our Jesus walked through the fires of Hell whether we wanted saving or not in order to free our souls from torment. Like Nebby and Job, I look at that kind of love and despise myself, knowing that God alone loves me enough to go through Hell to save me.

Found Wanting…
Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, witnessed the writing on the wall as he drank from the Lord’s sacred vessels, and “his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together” (Dan 5:6). Calling Daniel in for an interpretation, he received an accepted rebuke, “But when his [Nebby’s] heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne… And you his son… have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this” (Dan 5:20,22). Part of the writing read, “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Belshazzar was murdered that very night knowing his life was found wanting in the sight of God.

“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa 66:2). We all know that humility is the one attitude adjustment God demands more than any other. That’s why God sent His son, not merely as a sacrifice for our sins, but as an example of humility. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God… made Himself nothing… humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8). No matter what you or I do, we will be found wanting, we will be singed by the fire, and we will be nothing compared to God. We have only one option; humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. We do this by obedience, by trusting God rather than man, and by walking just as He walked.