SEPTEMBER 13, Isaiah 14:12-15

The 4 verses of today’s Bible reading tell us the world’s most tragic and poignant story, of how a powerful angel called Lucifer fell into sin. Who is this angel Lucifer? He was created as one of the most beautiful and powerful angels. To him, God was gracious and kind. However, he betrayed his Creator and wanted to be like Him! Who is he? He is none other than Satan!

When Lucifer sinned and rebelled against his Master, God cast him down from heaven, along with a third of the angels who followed him. How do we know Lucifer sinned? A hint would be for you to count how many “I” in these four verses. Have you done that? How many did you find?

In the four verses, you find five phrases of “I will”. Lucifer, due to pride of power and strength, challenged God and wanted to be like God. You see, Satan put himself before God and instead of worshipping God, wanted to be like God. In fact, he wanted to be better than God!

Pride is a most dangerous sin. Pride always starts with ourselves, with “I” or “Me” or “Mine”. You know how to spell “sin” and “pride”. What is in the middle of these 2 words? Again, the letter “I”!

Dear child, be careful of the letter “I”. Many of us would already have fallen into the sin of putting ourselves before God and others. You must have seen how some children behave. They make demands of their parents, “I want to have that toy!” Some may tell friends, “I got such wonderful results!”, or “Wow, I went to this exotic place for my June holidays!” The list goes on. Children who speak like that harbour pride. Dear child, may it not be said of you that you are like that.

Instead of pride, we must have humility. Even though you may be blessed with intelligence, musical talent, health and strength, never be prideful. Instead, be humble. How can you be humble? Just remember – all that you have is given by God.

Thought: May I be wary of the sin of pride!

Prayer: Thank You for being so merciful and gracious to me, Heavenly Father. I come before You humbly and ask that You forgive me for the pride that is in me. Please help me to remember all that I have is from Thy gracious hand. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.