Pride Goeth before destruction, and
an haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs
16:18
The Colossus of Rhodes is considered
one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
It was built of bronze and towered 108 feet over the Harbor of Rhodes,
serving as a tribute to the sun god Helios for a battle won. For perspective, Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in
Daniel 3 rose 90 feet over the plain of Dura (18 feet shorter), but it was
built of gold! The shimmering statue could be seen for miles in all
directions across the province of Babylon.
What would drive a man to seek such self-adulation? Several matters
working in combination in Nebuchadnezzar’s life compelled him to erect a
massive gold statue of himself; time and pride. Time has to be accounted for in
his decision. Daniel had told and
interpreted his dream for him; a dream that contained a statue made of multiple
elements and ultimately told of the king’s demise. Time marched on and Nebuchadnezzar
would ultimately push back on the narrative of the dream by building and
displaying his statue of gold to which he demanded worship. It was sending a message to everyone of just
how powerful and important he was. Time had dulled his memory to the absolute
truth of his dream.
Left unchecked, time and pride are a devastatingly destructive
combination. These two elements, in the
life of any man destroy everything they touch; family, relationships,
work, character, and testimony. The subtlety of this combination is that man is
seduced into believing it won’t happen to him.
Our options could not stand in starker contrast. We either choose to have the mind of Christ
(Philippians 2:5), or we choose a path of pride. One path leads to honor and
glory for God and looks out for the interests of others (Colossians 3:12 –14). The other path brings dishonor to
God and is a destructive force we cannot contain (Proverbs 16:18). Choose wisely, for time will tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment