Over the years of raising chickens, I have constructed a handful of different nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in. We usually needed to have several separate boxes in each house so that there would be enough at any one time to accommodate the chickens when they needed to lay. But no matter the flock of chickens, whether they were Leghorns, Barred Rocks, or Rhode Island Reds, they all did the exact same thing: out of the 10 or so open nesting boxes, they all wanted to lay in one or two specific boxes. I would go out to gather the eggs and there would be an empty nest, empty nest, empty nest, then a nest with not one, or two, but four chickens all stuffed into that single nest! They couldn’t hardly even move, they were crammed in there so tight, even laying their eggs on top of each other, all because they had to have that nest.
Well this overcrowding often led to some broken eggs, and I tried to pull some of those other chickens out and put them into a different box, but they would always jump out and jump back into the “special” one.
And that is kind of the similar to the parable that Jesus used in Luke 14, about pride and humility.
Luke 14:7-11 “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.”
To humble oneself means that someone is not proud, or arrogant, but is instead modest, unassuming, or lowly in mind. In the parable above, those who took the best, chief rooms for themselves evidently were not of this state of mind. Instead of taking the least best seats for themselves, they thought that they deserved to have the very best. Instead of being filled with humility, they were filled with pride, something that Christians need to cut out of their lives.
Instead of taking the best for ourselves, or putting ourselves first, we need to follow the teachings of Christ and humble ourselves. We need to become lowly, meek, and filled with humility. Putting others and/or the needs of others before our own. Remember the words of the Lord:
Matthew 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
It is God who should lift us up, not ourselves. The Lord Jesus set the perfect example of humility not only by just coming down to the Earth to be among His creation, amongst us sinners, but He went even lower than that by showing true humility by washing the feet of His disciples. The King of kings, Creator of Heaven and Earth, washing the feet of His believers! There is no greater example of humility.
Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
So when we pass the days of our lives, let them be filled with that same Spirit of humility that is found in Christ. Let us think of others, before ourselves, placing others first, as Christ did. Let us be humble.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 