Ezekiel 32:32: “‘For I have caused My terror in the land of the living; / And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised / With those slain by the sword, / Pharaoh and all his multitude,’ / Says the LORD GOD.”

September 25th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This verse deals with the same subject we’ve seen over and over again in the last few chapters, the results of uncontrolled pride in people’s lives. In this case, it was Pharaoh king of Egypt and his nation that had become so prideful God was forced to discipline them. The New Testament book of James tells us “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'” (4:6). When we humble ourselves, God gives us more grace to enable us to overcome our love of the world.

Pride can creep into individuals and whole nations so that even nations begin to rely on their own capabilities instead of depending on God. The words President Abraham Lincoln wrote more than 150 years ago concerning pride in America still stand true today:

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and which multiplied, and enriched, and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

There are 2 important indicators that help us discern if we have allowed pride into our lives. The first indicator is that we are no longer grateful and develop an attitude where we think we deserve the good things we have, that it is our right to have them. The second indicator is having a prayerless life. Just the simple fact that we are praying shows that we are dependent on God.

“LORD, we look to You this day to supply everything we need to serve You well.”