Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. (Exodus 10:3)
God is God and there is no other. He is the Creator of everything and the Sustainer of the whole world. Every “good and perfect gift” we have comes from Him. When we fell into sin with no hope of return, we discovered that He was a Deliverer, the Savior, and the Friend of Sinners. He is all that and a million times more.
So what is the proper response to God? There can be only one: humility. It should be a humility that acknowledges Him, that trusts Him, that surrenders to Him, that worships and serves Him.
OUR PRIDE
But we are relentless in our humanistic pride. Left to our own way, we think we can handle life. We ignore God most of the time, vainly thinking we’re capable. We do not pray, nor look to Him. We do not read His Word and listen to His instructions for His life. And, we do not surrender to Him and follow Him humbly in faith. And the results are disastrous.
When we look back in history at men who have done this, like Pharaoh, it looks so ridiculous and foolish. And yet, we continue to walk in our own pride.
THE FUTURE
This will not always be this way. For Paul says that at the end of time, “every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
It is a vain and fruitless thing to live your life in pride, never bowing in humility before the one true God. Those who do pay the price of separation from Him. All that they search for and all that they really want is lost to them for they have, in pride, cut themselves from the One who can give them everything that matters and lasts.
But how precious and life-changing to recognize who God is and bow before Him. To admit our sin and acknowledge our need initially and continually. For those who respond in humility find a merciful and loving God who cares for His children. And they are given all that is valuable in life, for they have God Himself.
“Lord, bend that proud and stiff-necked ‘I’, help me to bow my neck and die; beholding Him on Calvary who bowed His head for me.”
