Falling Down: The “Trip” of Humility or Pride?

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital]. It may be you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.

Since our church-wide fast in January I have been asking the Lord, What does humility, or humbling myself, look like – practically? There are several implications in this passage. “…seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital].” Seek humility? Inquire for it? Require it? Humble people seek the Lord. Those who are seeking to humble themselves or put it into practice – SEEK the Lord through worship, thanksgiving, prayer, obedience, repentance, change in lifestyle, practicing things they have clearly been shown in Scripture – but have been ignoring, or disobeying. They seek the Lord through seeking after His Manifested Presence. They change their schedules to make room for more of His Presence. They open the Door of Revelation 3:20 – to spiritually “hear” the WAYS He speaks; to “feel” around to discover, Am I spiritually hot, cold, or lukewarm? They open the DOOR to Jesus, the DOOR, to “see” spiritually – asking, What Are You Showing Me? What do You want me to see – spiritually? Seekers – humble people, those who are trying to humble themselves before the Lord – will open the DOOR to make room for all of these things.

John 10:7 So Jesus said again, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that I Myself am the Door for the sheep. Only Jesus’ sheep go through His DOOR. You have to belong to Jesus to go through these kind of “doors.” You have to be able to “hear” and “see” to follow Jesus – to recognize His Voice. You have to be a sheep – not a goat. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy…” What’s the thief going to steal, kill and destroy? You and I being sheep. What do sheep do? They eat, drink, and flock with other sheep. They follow the Shepherd. Where’s a shepherd going to be? With the flock – with the sheep. If you are following Jesus, the Shepherd, you are going to follow Him to where the flock is. The thief is going to convince you that you can be a sheep all by yourself. (Of course you can – while the “wolves” of life destroy your life)

Jesus’ sheep are humble. They are teachable. They follow the Shepherd. They recognize His Voice. They see and hear spiritually. As they humble themselves God’s Grace is abundantly supplied. Yet, God opposes all those who set themselves against His Shepherd (disobedience is opposition). As Scripture says, He knows the proud from afar. The Grace, or empowerment, desire, and thoughts – to seek God’s Presence, to humble yourself, to walk in humility, to be Jesus’s sheep, to follow the Shepherd, and enter the DOOR – is minimized. And Scripture is fulfilled: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18) Isn’t it interesting that the word for prostration in the Hebrew is often translated “fall down?” There you have it: fall down on your own – in humility OR fall down in destruction – because of pride and haughtiness. What kind of “trip” do you want to take? Humility or PRIDE?