"And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Jesus, in today's quote, teaches the merits of humility to those who would be His disciples.
The penalty for the lack of humility and the reward for remaining humble are verified in the last sentence of today's quote: "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Sadly, there are few among today's "Christians" who take this lesson to heart. In almost every aspect of our lives, the rule seems to be that, whoever arrives first with the most gets the biggest and sweetest piece of the pie.
We have become a greedy, self indulged, people who have almost totally abandoned the very fundamental Christian principle of humility toward the weaker among us.
In many ways we have become far worse than the chief priests of the Pharisees in that we are not restricted by the laws of Moses such as they were. Whereas they were subject to some scrutiny by the law, we today are under no such scrutiny.
We should study this lesson over and over until we are assured that we fully understand it. Making sure that in every thing we do, we ALWAYS take the least possible amount from the pie of life so as to assure that there will be plenty left for those who are weaker and more in need than we.
As is promised in the very last part of today's quote: "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Not only does this promise apply to our lives here on earth, it equally applies to our lives throughout eternity.
Our societal position in this very short life matters very little compared to eternity. Knowing that, it behooves us all to lay the proper groundwork for that part of eternity that comes after this short life on earth, so that we may be "exhalted" in all of eternity with God in Heaven.
Before considering any of this, we should make certain that the most important groundwork of all is laid. We should make sure that our sins have been forgiven and that we are back in the presence of God through Jesus Christ. One should place his/her faith in the soul saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remittance of sin, thereby assuring his/her own everlasting life. It is as simple as this; "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)~
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