They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them. Numbers 12:2 NLT
He
envied the ducks—and wanted to be one.
As the
turtle in the pond listened to the ducks describe their travels, he longed to
visit the places they went. Of course, being a turtle, he couldn’t travel far
or fast. One day, two of the ducks offered to help him. One of the ducks said,
“We will each hold an end of a stick in our mouths. You hold the stick in the
middle in your mouth, and we will carry you through the air so you can see what
we see when we fly. But be quiet, or you will be sorry.”
Loving
the idea, the turtle snapped onto the stick, and away they flew. Over the
trees. Around meadows. He saw flowers on the hillside. This new perspective on
the world amazed the turtle.
As
they flew across venues the turtle had never seen before, suddenly, a crow
passed them. Seeing a flying turtle amazed the crow, who said, “Surely this
must be the king of all turtles!”
When
the turtle heard the crow’s remarks, he said, “Why certainly . . .”
But he
never finished his statement. Opening his mouth caused him to lose his grip on
the stick. He fell to the ground below—stripped of his newfound adventure, his
life, and his pride.
Pride
makes an awful bedfellow, as Aaron and Miriam discovered. They may have been
Moses’ siblings, but this didn’t stop them from a prideful attitude that led
them to think they should have a more significant part in leading the children
of Israel to the Promised Land. When they complained, God humbled
them—especially Miriam. Perhaps she had led the charade. A little temporary
leprosy reminded her and Aaron of whom was in charge.
Selfish,
sinful human nature makes it easy for pride to slip into our lives unawares. It
did with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He walked across the roof of his
palace and marveled at the great kingdom he had built—or at least that’s what
he thought. God brought him down by sending him into the fields to live as a
wild animal for a period. As with Aaron and Miriam, he learned his lesson the
hard way.
Pride
causes us to forget our place. God is the Creator; we are the created. We don’t
tell Him what to do; He tells us what to do. It might appear pride elevates us,
but it takes us down a notch or two or three. Aaron seemed to have less pride
than Miriam. When he saw God’s punishment for his sister, he humbly pleaded for
her.
Pride
can lead to relationship problems. Being friends with people who think they are
better than us can be difficult, and being the spouse of one of those folks can
be even more problematic.
The
list of where pride can lead us is long: anger, selfishness, unreliable
reasoning. Pride also opens us up to Satan’s temptations. After all, pride led
to his downfall. He wasn’t satisfied with being an angel. He wanted to be God.
Remembering
who we are and who God is keeps our perspective correct and lets humility reign
instead of pride.
Don’t
let a prideful spirit ruin your life.
Father, remind
me often of who I am and of who you are.
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