Sunday, March 16
Scripture: Judges 16-18, Psalm 75
The Problem with Pride: Judges 16:17 & 26-29
17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me once more, and let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes with one blow.”
In these two verses, we see two very different Samsons. A Samson who is full of himself, believing that his strength came from himself, i.e., PRIDE (judges 16:17). A Samson who recognizes that his strength came from God, a HUMBLE Samson (Judges 16: 26-29). It is easy for us to fall into our Philistine traps when we think that everything we have or accomplished came because of our strength, intelligence, talents, gifts, etc., but we forget who it was that gave us the strengths, intelligence, talents, skills, etc. God wants us to be humble and to remember that all that we have and all that we are has come from God because if we are full of ourselves (pride), it leaves no room in us for God, our families, our friends, and others.
Proverbs 16:18 gives us this warning: “Pride goes before destruction, // a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Family project: Get a big piece of paper. Together, draw a big heart on it. Above the heart, write “God’s Heart.” Then, get smaller pieces of paper for each person in the family and draw your hearts with your names inside. Together, each of you writes in your hearts what God has given you physically in your mind and in your relationships. After you all fill your hearts, color them, decorate them, etc., cut them out and glue them into the big heart, God’s heart, then hang them where everyone can see!
~Pastor Isabell Clark
Daily Prayer Focus: The police, fire, EMT and Rescue Workers