APRIL 12, Luke 18:9-14

In the Bible, meekness is usually emphasized as submissiveness toward God for if we can be meek toward God and deny ourselves, we would learn to be meek toward men. As directed toward God, meekness and humility require us to do the following:

Recognize our sinfulness. We see that the Pharisee trusted in himself - that he was righteous. He prayed with himself, thanking God he was better than other people. Note the Pharisee’s emphasis on exaltation of self and his failure to see his sins. The Publican (a job that was scorned among Jews in those days), on the other hand, pleaded for mercy admitting he was a sinner. If we say we have not sinned, we are liars. We are all sinners, and often need forgiveness. We all deserve to be punished for our sins. We have hope of salvation only by God’s gracious willingness to forgive. We are no better than the Pharisee or publican, in the sense we are all sinners, but we must do better than the Pharisee and recognize our own sinfulness.

Depend on God. Our physical blessings come, not by our own power and might, but from God. All good things come from God. We must appreciate how weak we would be without Him. This leads us to depend on God to meet our needs. In turn, we then appreciate and give glory to Him, rather than exalting self.

Accept God’s will for us in our lives. A meek and humble person will accept persecution or hardship without rebelling against God or doubting God’s wisdom. This person will accept that God has chosen to allow this to happen for His good purposes. Facing hardships that we cannot solve alone helps make us humble - we see our weakness and turn to God for help which helps us to appreciate God and see our need for God. This does not however mean we should blame God for causing all the problems, nor does it mean we only have problems when we sin. Sometimes our problems are caused by our own sins. Other times we have not sinned but, like Job, God allows Satan to cause hardships. Satan is ultimately responsible for the existence of troubles, but God uses these troubles to make us humble.

Thought: One who exalts self will be made low; one who humbles self will be exalted! (Luke 18:14)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know that I need help from someone far greater than I am. You know what I need and what is good better than I know, and I know that You have the power to do what needs done. Help me to listen and obey your will and commands. This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.