Today’s Scripture: Proverbs 3:34
“Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
Hudson Taylor, the famed missionary to China, was scheduled to speak at a Large Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia. The moderator of the service introduced the missionary in eloquent and glowing terms. He told the large congregation all that Taylor had accomplished in China, and then presented him as “our illustrious guest.” Taylor stood quietly for a moment, and then opened his message by saying, “Dear friends, I am the little servant of an illustrious Master.” Small wonder Hudson Taylor’s ministry made such a profound impact. Humility attracts grace.
The Bible makes one thing clear: God resist’s the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humility is a conscious acknowledgement of our inadequacies, compelling us to lean entirely on God. It took a measure of humility to acknowledge that we lacked the capacity to save our own souls thereby positioning ourselves to receive God’s grace for salvation. It also takes humility to receive God’s grace for every other area of our life.
The truth is, we do not have the capacity, within ourselves, to actualise God’s plan for our lives. We need the grace of God. Humility is not embarrassed by its own limitations and has no difficulty ascribing glory to God for feats accomplished. Humility has no airs and holds no sense of superiority over its fellows, because it knows that all that it has comes from God.
Pride, the antithesis of humility, glories in its own strengths and accomplishments. Pride shuts itself out of the grace of God and invariably falls, because it cannot attain significance in its own strength. Humility cannot be complete except it translates into obedience of God’s Word. The Bible says of Jesus, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:9). So let us cloak ourselves in humility as we proceed today. Let us, acknowledging our inadequacies, lean entirely on God for grace. Let us acknowledge, continually, the accomplishments of His grace. The Lord will multiply grace to you today, in Jesus’ name.
Memorise & Meditate:
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
Prayer/Confession:
Help me, Lord, to be humble. I acknowledge You as the Source of all things and of all grace in my life. Grant me Your grace, continually, in Jesus’ name.
