Proverbs 25:6–7: Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of the great; For it is better that he say to you, “Come up here,” Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen.
Insight
When a great and important man invited many of his friends for dinner, he had reserved places at the table for certain ones he wanted to honor. But when the dinner bell was rung, there was a mad rush to get the best places at the table. They almost turned the thing over, I imagine, as they rushed in to get the most prominent places. The Lord Jesus was present there that day and apparently waited until everyone else had gone in. Then He said something to correct them:
“When you’re invited to a dinner, don’t try to get the best place. You should purposely take the lowest place. Then when the one who has invited you comes in and sees you taking the lowest place—if you are his honored guest—he may say to you, ‘Come on up here.’ Now, if someone else has taken that place, the host would have to tap him on the shoulder and say, ‘You go down and take the lowest place’” (cf. Luke 14:7–10).
We have people who are pushy in Christian circles. They are ambitious. They want to get ahead in Christian things. That is a tragedy. Maybe you can’t blame a man in the business world for trying to get ahead, but in Christian work it ought not to be. 1
Application
Discuss: when we fail to abide, do we strive for a position to establish our significance?
Motivation
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5
Humility never looks for recognition, because it lives to recognize The One. – TWEET IT
Prayer
Father, please forgive me for the selfish sin of striving for earthly recognition.
1. Ironside, H. A. (1908). Notes on the Book of Proverbs. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Bros.
