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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Zephaniah 2:3
“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the Day of the Lord’s anger.”
Humility is self-inflicted.
I used to think the humble people were the poor and insignificant. Those who through circumstances beyond their control were worse off than the rest of us. They were to be pitied and helped.
I’ve come to realise that the reality is completely different. We are not ‘made’ humble – although we can be humbled. Rather, we choose to humble ourselves. A truly humble person is not to be pitied but envied. That person has not become humble through circumstances but by their attitude. Not by being like the ‘Uriah Heap’ of Charles Dickens’ fame, who was a schemer, but by being a follower of Jesus. The first step is made by asking for forgiveness.
To be humble, even to choose to humble yourself for a moment necessitates a cause. No, not ambition in the worldly sense but in the spiritual sense. The truly humble have read and put into practice Philippians 2. They have taken on board the “same…” “attitude… as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
He humbled Himself. Why? Because He sought righteousness and chose to be obedient to Father. He sought the Lord and His ways. He did only what He saw His Father doing. “Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work” (John 14:10). He also knew the final result, which was indescribable victory, triumph, majesty and glory. And because of His victory, it is now the same for us, too.
Humility is like meekness – it needs definition for understanding. Meekness is not weakness – it is strength under control. The weak do not inherit the earth – but the meek certainly do (see Matthew 5:5).
Meek people have learned that there is Someone greater than they are. They have learned that the future belongs to God and not to them. They know that while they have finite resources, their Father has unlimited resources, and if they keep in touch and in line with Him, He will release all the resources they could ever need to accomplish the great exploits He has called them to complete.
Humility is not false, a sham, or pretence, nor is it the result of uncontrolled circumstances. It is the result of a choice, an attitude. An attitude that acknowledges that what is important is not convenience but character, not achievement but the acknowledgement of God and who He is and who we are. It is recognition of grace, not a result of adverse circumstances.
The humble person seeks goodness, not the praise of man. Righteousness is not success but integrity. It may bring ‘success’ in the end as it did for Joseph (see Genesis 41) and Daniel (see Daniel 6), but it is not self-seeking, rather it is God-honouring – seeking His will, His ways and His authority. It is allowing the Kingdom of Heaven to exist on earth.
It usually means ‘going against the flow’, as it did in Zephaniah’s day. Josiah sought it and God honoured him by allowing him to reign 31 years in Jerusalem.
It is interesting that he was killed at Megiddo (see 2 Kings 23:29-30), the ‘site’ for that last Great Battle – Armageddon – when righteousness will finally triumph over evil once and for all.
Maintain your integrity, choose humility, seek righteousness and remain meek and you, too, will inherit the earth. (And “be sheltered on the Day of the Lord’s anger.”)
That’s a promise.
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