Today’s Devotion
Topic: Pride (Self Assessment)
Background : The adage that “pride goes before a fall” has become a cliché. We hypocritically use it to enrich our conversations. It makes us appear good before people. However, we never live by its imports. In our closets, we challenge the validity of this adage until we have fallen harder than we can express. Why should all proud men reject advice till the have fallen? For answers to this and the many lessons that pride can teach, let us delve straight into our weekly bible discussion.
Text : 2 Chronicles 26: 3- 5, 15- 22
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. 16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in.
18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house —leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. Amen
Questions :
i. What is pride? How is it that people who are proud never admit that they are?
ii. In your opinion, what are some of the factors that contribute to pride? (read: verse 15- 16)
iii. How is it that we forget that all we are and have is from God and begin to “puff up”? (verse 4- 5)
iv. Read verse 5 again, how important are people like Zechariah in the life of every believer? (read: Proverbs 11: 14, Proverbs 15: 22, Proverbs 24: 6)
v. Pride can make a once committed believer very unfaithful to the Lord just as we see in verse 16. Discuss
vi. In verse 17, we see how Azariah the priest and 80 other colleagues were courageous to confront the proud king who had overstepped his boundaries. Do you think our dispensation can boast of courageous leaders both in the church and secular world, able to confront evil till the name of the Lord is glorified? If yes, why? If No, Why?
vii. The Lord struck the king Uzziah with leprosy. Does it mean they Lord will bring to justice any unrepented proud person? (Read James 4: 7, 1 Peter 5: 5-6, Proverbs 3: 34 & Proverbs 29: 23)
viii. What have you learnt from today’s study?
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