Recently I read, a sign over a garbage can which immediately caught my attention. It simply said, “Put trash in its place!” Catchy phrase, I thought! And as those five short words penetrated into my gray matter, I concluded that the same could be said about pride (or any other sin, for that matter). But since pride is first on the list of those things the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:16-17), we want to think about that for a while. The words of Paul to the Galatians come to mind: “If a man thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).
Unquestionably, Satan is the founding father of all pride. When he vociferously announced, “I will ascend into heaven” and “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God” and “I will sit … upon the mount of the congregation” and “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds” and “I will be like the most high” – God cast him out of heaven (along with all his rebellious cohorts). See Isaiah 14:12-15. Unfortunately, Satan did not have the benefit of the words of the writer of Proverbs before he made his pretentious statement. Solomon was inspired to write, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
A young teacher who had recently received his degree, was trying to make a weighty impression on his first group of students. With his head high, and chest protruding, he began: “Now pupils, if the solar declension is half-past two in the afternoon, and equal to the living conditions in China, and the rate of travel includes the high cost of living in the state of New York, how old am I? Get out your slide rules and figure it out.” One very bright young student instantly raised his hand. “You’re thirty-six!” “You are correct, young man,” replied the baffled teacher, “but how did you get the answer so quickly?” “Very simply,” responded the student. “My brother is only eighteen, and he’s only half wacky!”
We would all be the better and wiser for putting pride in its place.
March/April 1977
