Humility is What I Long For

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
In Judges 9-10 we read about Abimelech, a man who was certainly not humble of heart. He had his own self-interests in mind, and reeked havoc on the Israelite people. It’s a sad story, full of gory details. But it once again shows a period of Israelite history in which God’s chosen people were rebelling and putting themselves before their God.
Humility is a hard thing to come by. It’s not always the easy road, not always the prettiest thing, but it’s what God calls us to as Christians. In Luke 14:1-24 Jesus tells a parable of humility. It’s a mindset, a matter of heart, an outlook on life. In this world we might not always be rewarded for our gracious acts, but God knows the heart.
That truth is something I have to grab a hold of on the hard days. On the days when I chose humility, without getting any recognition. On the days when I take the harder road with little results. Those are the days when I have to remind myself that my true treasure is in heaven, not here on earth. Humility is a tough thing to exhibit. Sometimes it means putting my loved ones first, doing the dirty jobs, or simply stepping out of the way so that others get the recognition. However it looks, I truly want to be more humble in my life.
What about you? What does humility look like in your life?

Gideon and the Ultimate Choice

Today's Reading: Judges 7-8; Luke 13:23-35

I admire Gideon.
No, he wasn't perfect, but as we read in yesterday and today's readings, he did fight some courageous battles for the Lord. The thing that I liked most of all was, that in the end, Gideon wouldn't take the position of king, but instead acknowledge God as their king. When he easily could have taken all the glory, he pointed the people back to God. And they looked toward God for 40 years, until Gideon was gone.
And then, once again, the Israelites fell back into sin and idolatry. How sad. But how true of even today. We all have a choice to make. Each day, as we look around us, we can choose to serve God, or the material world. The choice is ours, but as Luke 13 reminds us, the outcome is an eternal one. We can serve to worship the idols of this world, and spend eternity in hell, or we can choose the “narrow door,” the door in which we enter if we worship the one, true Savior of the world (Luke 13:24). This door isn’t an easy one to enter, but life as a Christian isn’t all that easy. Being a Christian means that we’ll face all kinds of persecutions in this life, but I’m willing to walk that narrow way, if it means spending eternity with my Savoir. What about you?