ON THE VANGUARD

THAT PRIDE WILL GET CH’A
“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.”
II Chronicles 26:16

It was back in the year 2000, that I made a boast I would soon regret. At the time I was pretty heavily involved in pornography and would spend countless hours viewing sites that offered a free look. I heard one day, as I was looking, that judgment for my actions was coming. Not phased one bit, I simply replied to this voice of warning, “Not me, I’m too good to get caught.” Within twenty-four hours of that comment I was being interrogated by my wife and pastor as to the actions I had been secretly performing. I was convinced that I was in the clear. I was hiding my history and careful only to look when I knew it was safe, either when she was gone or fast asleep. Yet no amount of my trying to hide it could keep it hidden from God’s sight. And no amount of my denying it could keep my pride from rearing its head. I am convinced that it was this proud boast that I made that in essence, challenged God and brought about my discovery.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:18 that pride comes before a fall. Because of not only this experience, but also times of pride where I broke my leg while showing off, or was fired from a job because of thinking I was worth so much to the company that my actions would not be my downfall, pride is now the enemy I work hard to stay away from. Instead of thinking of myself as ‘the bomb’, I work to think of myself as humble. But not fake humility, which is nothing more than pretending to be humble while all along embracing the praise of others. I want to be the kind of humility that is spoken of in I Peter 5:6; the kind that God truly sees and brings about an uplifting because of in His right time.
But as a warning, I find myself reflecting on the latter years of King Uzziah. In II Chronicles 26 we get an inside look into his life. Becoming king at the age of sixteen, Uzziah reigned over Judah. He did what was right in God’s sight and was rewarded with victory in war. As long as he continued to seek God, God brought about success (II Chron 26:5). Yet in time, Uzziah’s power went to his head and pride became his downfall (II Chron 26:16). Only the Levite priests were allowed within the temple area to burn incense; no one else. But considering himself above all rules, even those of God, Uzziah entered. Right away the priests knew this was wrong and they too followed him inside, but not to watch his offering. They followed him in to escort him out, demanding he leave the sanctuary at once. But the king did not comply. While arguing with the priests in the LORD’s house, Uzziah’s forehead began to break out with leprosy (II Chron 26:20). Right away Uzziah knew he had done wrong and was humbled. However, the king continued to live. Sadly enough, though, he lived alone, in a separate room, and with his leprosy always present to remind him of his pride.
Pride has no manners. It affects everyone and is determined to be the downfall of anyone who lets it. The phrase, “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile,” is very true when it comes to pride. But before we get to the level that became Uzziah’s disgrace, let us kill it. Let us wage war on this evil, veil spirit. It is a weapon of the enemy that unfortunately is working hard to take out everyone standing in its path. I guarantee you that you’ve seen its destruction in the life of another, if not witnessed it in your own life. So then, let us fight it. Let us work to stand in humility, allowing God to lift us up as opposed to us lifting ourselves. Let us find ourselves on our faces seeking God instead of puffed up, boasting in what we have accomplished. Pride will attack, but we must stand.