Promises, promises

2 Samuel 7:28 Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.

A well-known Christian businessman who was visiting a church was asked to give his testimony. He said, “I have a fine family, a large house, a successful business, and a good reputation. I have plenty of money so I can support some Christian ministries very generously. Many organisations want me on their board of directors. I have good health and almost unlimited opportunities. What more could I ask from God?” As he paused for effect, a voice shouted from the back of the auditorium, “How about asking Him for a good dose of humility?”

At harvest time we often sing, “all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all his love.” But what view are we holding as to what is good for us; surely this require to be one of God’s blessings Christ spoke about on the sermon on the mount; blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

The first barrier to meekness arises whenever we claim as our own what is really a gift of God. To live in meekness, we must try to remember that all we are, have, and can do is a gift. It is an act of arrogance to place ourselves at the centre of being and doing. Only God belongs there.

Arrogance is the opposite of humility. It compels us to treat our limits not as unique openings through which God can reveal his goodness but as diseases to be cured. We find it almost impossible to be self-effacing, as if we must maintain a know-it-all posture that demands a final answer to mystery.

Brennan Manning suggests that “We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.”

Lord, I pray that I may learn to walk in the goodness of Your ways, to serve with all of my being and to learn to love You as You have loved me. Teach me Lord, how to worship You in the beauty of holiness so that I may be one that bows my heart before You in spirit and truth, to Your honour and glory. In Jesus' name I pray, 

Amen.