Upside Down Gets Set Right Side Up
Luke 1:46-55 (NIV)
“Mary said: '. . . God . . . has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers . . . but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry . . . but has sent the rich away empty . . .'" Luke 1:46-55 NIV)
Pastor’s Thoughts
Pride is the chief of all sins. Nothing else compares. One scholar who studies such things said that men find it easier to knowingly go to their death in the Twin Towers than to apologize their wives.
Pride is the reason Satan left God. Pride is the reason we humans have fallen from grace (“you can be like God” Gen. 3)
One day the proud will be humbled and the humbled will be elevated. This is the great reversal. In the New Creation the lowly will be on top and the unhumbled rich will be sent away empty.
Here’s the really hard thing to swallow. You and I are the rich. . . . among the wealthiest two percent of the earth’s population. Is Mary’s prophecy, often called the “Magnificat”, a message to you and me?
The message I see here is not one from a financial standpoint. Money may mean much to us, but in the end it is an external vs and internal, and God minds the business of the internal (the heart) inpriority.
ReplyDelete"God has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts."
God is addressing this to the internal, the heart.
"He has brought down rulers...but has lifted up the humble."
Humble in heart, those who know that they don't have the answers and are in need of a Savior.
"He has filled the hungry...but has sent the rich away empty"
Satan did have it all-beauty (called the Morning Star), chief angel, etc. He was rich in the blessings of God as God had created him thusly. He wasn't hungry for God, though, was he? His heart, his internal was his downfall, not his richness of the external. His thoughts were proud to the point where he actually thought he could replace God!
He was cast out and sent away empty.
We must take heed of this. Obedience over sacrifice, the Bible says. But, obedience, first, must be to the one, true God. One could give all of what they own, but if there heart holds pride, what has that benefitted them?
"He has filled the hungry"!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lord! I shall thirst no more! My heart lay open to you, conform it to your will, Father. Take this prideful bent soul, Lord and humble it forever. Forever I will ask for your mercy, your grace, your faithfullness and I shall be forever grateful for your love.
You have filled the hungry! Thank you, Jesus