Lesson 11: Less is More

 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!  For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Earth. (Isaiah 14: 12-15)

The devil seeks to replace God.  He seeks to lift himself high.  It makes me reflect, in what ways am I like the devil?  In what ways do I try to lift myself higher?  Throughout history, as is recorded in the Bible, God constantly brings down those who delight in high things.  However, the poor and needy are God’s people.  A little later in the same chapter of Isaiah, it is written:

The Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it (Isaiah 14:32)

Over and over again in the Bible, the pattern becomes clear.  The Lord saves the poor and the needy and He brings down the rich and the prideful.

Those of high stature will be hewn down, and the haughty will be humbled. (Isaiah 10:33)

 Jesus says:

Blessed are you poor, for Yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!  For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luke 6: 20-26)

Does that mean it is wrong to be rich, wrong to be full?  There is a difference between using riches for yourself or using it to bless others.

In my favorite Psalm, David, a man after God’s own heart, tells of the attitude we should have with the Lord.  Keep in mind that David is extravagantly rich and not only powerful, but king of Israel at the time.  However, he did not strive for it, but the Lord blessed him with it.

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty, Neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me.  Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131: 1-2)

Ultimately, it is our hearts that God is concerned about.  How can we stop striving for riches?  How can we stop striving for power?  How can we stop striving for greatness?  How can we cultivate an attitude like David’s and be content with lowliness and our complete dependence on God?

After the disciples argued about who was the greatest, Jesus says something very profound:

And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. (Mark 10:44)

In the Kingdom of God, the lowest are the greatest.  The poorest are the richest.  The needy are the most filled. 

Striving for riches is not the answer.  Striving to do great things for God is not the answer.  Striving to be the most holy is not the answer.  God does not need us to carry out His plan.  To think that somehow God’s plan hangs in the balance over our decisions is extremely egocentric.  I have been guilty of that, worrying about somehow disrupting His plan for my life.  God’s plan will come to pass with or without our help.  If he doesn’t use us, He will use somebody else or miraculously make it happen.

We need to stop striving for greatness and instead depend on God and surrender to His will.

A men.