By
Nina Ditoro
For
the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He
will beautify the humble with salvation.
(Psalm
149:4)
It
is such an amazing fact that the all-powerful God prefers those of a humble,
servant-like spirit. This is so different from the general nature of man.
What is perhaps even more amazing is that when Christ, the Son of God, came
to this earth, He was our perfect example in every way, including this. He
lived the life of a servant.
I’m
sure if I had been in His position, I would have done things differently.
•If
I had the opportunity to choose the body I would have, I am sure I would be
tempted to choose the most beautiful body possible. Yet Christ didn’t. In
fact He did exactly the opposite (Isaiah 52:13-53:12):
…So
His visage was marred more than any man.
And
His form more than the sons of men… (52:14)
…He
has no form or comeliness;
And
when we see Him,
There
is no beauty that we should desire Him.
(53:2)
•If
I could choose my earthly dwelling, I might choose a fabulous mansion. Yet
Christ had no place He called home.
And
Jesus said to him,
“Foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests,
but
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
(Luke
9:58)
•If
I could choose my earthly associates, I might choose the rich, prestigious,
and powerful, such as the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Yet people
were often amazed to find Jesus hanging out with the “scum”, such as
fishermen, Galileans, publicans, Samaritans, and sinners.
If
Jesus, who lived a perfect life and is the Son of God, was humble, how much
more should we, who are sinners, deserving of nothing but eternal punishment
(Romans 2:8-9, Luke 17:10), be humble. Our sins
should cause us to break down our barriers of pride and be full of great
contrition.
For
You do not desire sacrifice,
Or
else I would give it;
You
do not delight in burnt offering
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A
broken and a contrite heart-
These,
O God, You will not despise.
(Ps.
51:16-17)
For
thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity,
Whose
name is Holy:
I
dwell in the high and holy place,
With
him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To
revive the spirit of the humble,
And
to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
(Isaiah
57:15)
Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Who,
being in the form of God,
did
not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
but
made Himself of no reputation,
taking
the form of a bondservant,
and
coming in the likeness of men.
And
being found in appearance as a man,
He
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,
Even
the death of the cross.
(Philippians
2:5-8)
