By Jamin Roller
Scripture Reading: Daniel 4:1-37, Deuteronomy 32:39, 1 Corinthians 1:28-29
When I was in middle school I went on a father-son hiking trip with my dad and a few other families. One morning I saw one of the other dads lying face down on the ground near the river. At first, I thought he had fallen so I went to check on him. Beneath him was a small freshwater stream flowing out from under a rock. He was drinking directly from it. He looked at me and said, “this is the best water you will ever taste.” I tried to scoop some with my hand, but he said, “the only way to drink it is to get on the ground.”
There is a posture in life that offends God. It is the life we see King Nebuchadnezzar live in the first part of our story: “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?” (Daniel 4:30). This is the life of pride that trusts in and exalts self. You can trace the self-exalting sin of pride from the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 all the way to the beasts of Revelation.
There is a posture in life that pleases God. It is the life that King Nebuchadnezzar turned to when the Lord granted back his sanity, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (v.37). This way of living is marked by humility and recognition of the greatness of God and is self-deferential in response to the glory of God.
Reading our passage today reminded me of the words from Mary’s song, “he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52).
It is a kingdom reality that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble. We may never devolve into animal behavior like King Nebuchadnezzar, but left to ourselves, we will choose a life of self-referential pride that betrays what it means to be human.
The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus was rightfully exalted and chose to be humbled to save us from our glory stealing pride. On the cross He did not act like an animal, but He was treated like one so that you and I may become truly human. His humble love makes a way for us to be rescued from sin and pride and welcomed into a life of humble obedience.
Like the stream of fresh water, the only way to get it is on the ground. We have to lower ourselves to the dirt, repent of self-exaltation, and, like King Nebuchadnezzar, exchange our heart of pride for a heart of praise.
Written by Jamin Roller
Post Comments (0)