Monday Reading: Luke 18:10-14
Key Verse: Luke 18:14
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.
Devotion:
If we listen to the world we find many people teaching others that they must believe in themselves and that they are only as good as they think they are. Well, that has absolutely nothing to do with what Christ was teaching because Christ taught that we need to be humble before God. That does not mean that we must leave it all up to God because He will lead us and show us what we do have to achieve, but we then have to get up and do that! But the important point to make here is that we must depend on God for guidance and not ourselves.
As this parable points out, we need to come before God humbly and not with a proud attitude thinking that we have reached our pinnacle. God wants us to remember that we are His and that we would be nothing if it were not for Him. God wants us to remember that He is the judge and not us. He also wants us to remember that our minds are fickle and we fall into worldly ways as soon as we loosen our grip on Him. Our prayer life is very important in that it will continue to strengthen our grip on God and will continue to allow us to see that we do depend on Him for everything.
It is quite easy to spot the people who hold themselves up before God because they are the ones that will put down others in front of God. Does that sound like a bit of a general statement to you? Well think about the words. If we put down other in front of God then we are saying to God that we put them down no matter what God thinks of them... Is that not lifting ourselves up before God? I know that I have been guilty of that and have had to repent for those times. God is the one who knows the design of this universe and all of the people within it – we are just one of those people! Lift up your honest and humble prayers to God exalting Him and others as we do.
Points to Ponder:
How do you pray?
Do you tell God what to do?
