As I sit
again in ‘my perfect day’ place, sipping Starbucks coffee and indulging in a
Blueberry Muffin, I am again reminded of the word humility. I believe
there is a reason this word has remained tattooed on my heart since I left
Bangkok. This word and all its meaning came flooding back to me as I walked on
the campus of CBC for orientation, as I flew by myself across the world in
hopes of telling at least one person the message of salvation, and as I read
the book Humility by Andrew Murray.
This book was given to me as a gift right before I left, ironic? I don’t think
so.
While I
could attempt to summarize what Murray states about humility, it would do no
justice to the best attempt to define what humility looks like. While this book
may only be 100 pages, each one is loaded with potent and humbling statements.
It has taken me several days to finish the preface and Ch 1. I would recommend
reading it, but here are some of my thoughts on his points [warning: you will
mostly likely have to read some of these statements several time in order to
grasp their impact]:
Jesus, the
Son of God, the Almighty One, the only human to ever live a sinless life, is
the prime example of viewing oneself as lowliness. Therefore we must attempt to
find common ground with the One who found his glory in taking the form of a
servant.
One could
attempt to define humility as the place of entire dependence on God. Therefore,
it is the only soil in which grace roots. The lack of it sufficiently explains
every defect and every failure. Then, pride – the loss of this humility – is
the root of every sin and evil.
If we
acknowledge this, then we regard nothing so dangerous as pride.
But study
the character of Christ until your souls are filled with the love and
admiration of His lowliness.
Jesus came
to bring humility back to earth, to make us partakers of it, and to save us. He
humbled himself in heaven so much in order to become a man, and became obedient
to God unto death.
HIS HUMILITY
IS OUR SALVATION. HIS SALVATION IS OUR HUMILITY.
The secret
to Jesus’ blessedness is humility and nothingness, therefore leaving God free
to be all.
Because of
our fallen state, we have nothing to offer God. We deserve to spend eternity
away from Him, burning in hell! But Christ paid the price for us on the cross.
So the only way through which we can return to our right place is through coming
to Christ in humility.
If we look
at it this way, we realize absolutely nothing is more natural, nothing is more
beautiful, and nothing is more blessed than to be nothing. This allows God to
be all.
“They shall
cast their crowns before the throne, saying: Worthy are you, our Lord and our
God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for you did create all
things, and because of your will they were, and were created” ~Rev 4:11
How often do
you think about humbling yourself? It does not come naturally; but through
prayer, faith, practice, obedience, and a desire it is possible. Our call to
humility is rarely regarded in the Church because its true nature and
importance have been too little thought about. But look at it this way,
humility is simply the sense of entire nothingness which both allows us to see
all that God truly is and which comes when we make the way for God to be all. Just
acknowledge the truth of his position.
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