Self: A Small Package

Obadiah vs. 2-4 (NIV)  “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. the pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

            By way of background information, the book of Obadiah is the shortest Old Testament book—a single chapter of 21 verses. And yet there are so many thoughts to glean from this book. Obadiah may have been the prophet’s actual name, or perhaps his title (i.e, servant), either way Obadiah was a servant sent to proclaim word to the nation of Edom regarding their pride and arrogance. Living on the heights of the Edomite plateau brought a certain sense of self-assurance causing Edom to be deceived in their invincibility. As I understand it, even the capital city Petra also means rock in the Greek language. Yet as secure as the Edomites believed themselves to be, they neglected to realize that Almighty God stands always and forever in control. Edom fancied itself to soar like eagles even higher than their own rocky clefts, and nesting among the stars a place higher than most could imagine…yet even there, God remains in full control.       

            King Solomon warns:

Proverbs 16:18  Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

            And this is the lesson for us today. Pride and arrogance can lead to complacency. The sense that all is well in my own “space;” that my problems rest on the shoulders of everyone else except myself. I don’t need to change; everyone else does. In fact, one of the very first words proclaimed by Obadiah was the warning of becoming small among the nations. This triggered a memory of a saying I haven’t heard in ages; “A person wrapped up in themselves makes a small package.”

            We would do well to remember, our Heavenly Father, Almighty God, remains in control of all things. Let us humble our hearts and guard against the pride that leads to complacency.

 

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            Forgive us when we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Remind us that in everything you stand in control. Guide us to seek you first in all things.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotional Self: A Small Package appeared first on Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com