Do we live in a land of diminishing returns? At the supermarket, the price goes up while the box gets smaller. At work, we’re asked to produce more and take less. Benefits shrink or are eliminated. Given this reality, it’s not surprising that many of us fear that with less coming in, life will not be good. History, however, teaches us that tough economic times can be blessings in disguise because they force us to become very clear about our priorities.
Pride can be a good thing when it’s about self-respect or being satisfied with a job well done, but we all know that pride has a dark side. We’ve seen it in ourselves and in others. The Bible tells us that the first sin ever committed was the sin of pride. An archangel named Lucifer became so full of himself that he wanted to be like God. He recruited followers and a third of of God’s angels swore their allegiance to him. Not content to lead a large rebel force of angels, the chief demon turned his attention to the first man and woman. He came alongside Eve and whispered, God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat the fruit of the tree. You will become just like God–knowing everything, both good and evil.
The Devil effectively appealed to Eve’s pride, and he’s been effectively appealing to humankind’s pride ever since. It’s not hard to recognize in ourselves. The sin of pride has three basic characteristics:
Jesus said that the essence of a Christian lifestyle is to love God and to love others, but pride destroys our capacity to love. Ask yourself:
Last week we considered how three interdependent factors (our life circumstances, God’s Word, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit) help us to identify God’s voice even when other voices are vying for our attention. Let’s go a little deeper. Let’s ask, “When I hear God’s voice, what will that sound like?”
The science of voice recognition now has the technology to analyze voices like fingerprints because every voice is unique. So what makes the voice of God unique? What characteristics are we to look for? Three come to mind, though there are many more.
The world is full of voices trying to get our attention. How can we distinguish God’s voice from all the others? Jesus tells us in John 10, “The shepherd of the sheep calls his own sheep by name and leads them out–his sheep follow him because they know his voice–I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
