The Predicament of Pride

Tonight as my mate Shane and I were visiting the church just to pick up a book from our office and to investigate a light that had been left on, we discovered a young man lying down to sleep on the front porch. Having access to the church after hours, and knowing that we could do something for him, we went to our office, and got a blanket for him and offered to buy him some food. He took the blanket but denied any further help, so we went back to our office and Shane being the servant hearted man that he is, refused to leave it there. He called our youth pastor, whose house we had just left, and talked about something else we could do for him, and from that, we then offered him the opportunity to sleep inside the church offices. He again declined but he took the pillows that we gave him. We then offered accommodation again which he again refused so we went and bought him a ham and salad roll and a couple of bottles of water from the petrol station across the road, which he refused but we left it by him.

The reason I called this post "The Predicament of Pride" is that that guy was quite obviously in need. He was sleeping outside on a wet night with no bedding and a high possibility that he had had no food recently. We come along, offering everything that this guy needs for the night, accommodation, bedding, food, warmth... And because of the pride that every human has inside of him he refused it! Why is it that when we are already so low that we need to sleep on a cement floor outside at night, that we still refuse to accept help from someone who is genuinely offering it? What is it about us that says "we'll be right," when we aren't? Doesn't it make more sense for us to accept the help that is offered us?

It's this aspect of humanity that reminds me of the world's attitude towards Jesus. He gave the greatest gift that anyone could ever give--LIFE. But the world rejected it then and still rejects it now because they cannot swallow their pride and accept the help that He offers. We, even a Christians, reject Jesus' help in the everyday. By thinking that we can handle life as it is, by refusing to allow him to take control in every area of our lives. We even reject him when we have a less than godly view of ourselves. It seems hard to believe, but when Jesus saves us by his grace, He views us then as he views his Son Jesus--with unending, undying, infinite amounts of love. When we tell him that his love isn't good enough by having a low self esteem, we effectively tell him that our love is better than his, that we know more about us than he does, and his love isn't worth anything.

Are you going to treat your Saviour and your Creator and your King the way he deserves? Are you going to accept the help that He is offering you right now? Are you going to let Him change your life? Are you going to treat yourself the way he treats you? Are you going to allow him to take total control of your life and let him mould your life into what it could really be?

or
Will you take control of your life and end up out in the cold sleeping on the street (physically AND spiritually)