Morning By Morning #74

If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

1 Corinthians 10:12

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

It may sound strange to say, but it is true there is such a thing as being proud of the gifts God has provided to us by His grace. Consider the person who says, “I have great faith in God, so I won’t fall. Those with small faith may fall, but I never will.” Another person may say, “I have intense love for the Lord, so I will stand. There is no danger of my going astray.”

Yet those who boast of the gifts of God’s grace have little to boast about. People who boast like this believe the gifts they have received can keep them from sinning, not realizing the stream of God’s gifts of grace must continually flow from the Source or else the brook will soon run dry. If an oil lamp does not have a constant flow of oil through its wick, it may burn brightly one day but will do nothing but smoke and put off noxious fumes the next.

Thus, beware to never glory in your gifts but always place your confidence in Christ and His strength, giving Him all the glory, for this is the only way to keep you from falling into sin. And remember to spend more time in prayer and worship and to be more earnest in reading the Scriptures, continually devoting time to them. Also watch your own life more carefully, being cautious to live more closely to God. Pattern your life after the most godly examples you know, and always let your conversation reflect that of heaven. And let your heart have the fragrance of true affection and love for the souls of others.

In other words, live in such a way others will “take note” you have “been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13) and have learned your ways from Him. Then when that glorious day arrives and He says to you, “Friend, move up to a better place” (Luke 14:10), may you be joyously blessed to hear Him say, “[You] have fought the good fight, [you] have finished the race, [you] have kept the faith. Now there is in store for [you] the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7 – 8) “that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4).

Onward, believer, but with carefulness and caution! Onward with holy “fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) and with faith and confidence in Jesus alone! May your constant prayer be: “Sustain me according to your promise” (Ps. 119:116). Remember—He alone “is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy” (Jude 24).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Boasting, even over gifts of God, is nothing but pride, one of “seven [things] that are detestable to him” (Prov. 6:16). In fact, Solomon, who wrote Proverbs, lists “a proud look” as the first of the seven (v. 17 KJV) and then says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18).

Paul also had an interesting way of looking at boasting. He said, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30), and “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:5). After asking the Lord to take away his “thorn in [his] flesh” (v. 7), God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” to which Paul beautifully responds, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (v. 9).