Humble yourself

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10
God’s way of thinking and working is often the complete opposite of the world’s. One example that comes up frequently throughout the Bible is that of humility. Humility is often seen as weakness by the world, and is often confused with low self-esteem. The world will tell us, if we want to get ahead, we need to push ourselves forward, to look out for number one. But Jesus tells us otherwise. We read about the parable of the wedding feast, and how it is better to sit at a low table and be invited to come to the top table, than to take a seat at the top table and be asked to move to a lower table. We are instructed to consider others as better than ourselves (Phil 2:3). When it comes to us relating to God, we have two choices: to fall down before Him voluntarily, or to have His judgement fall upon us (Matt. 21:44, Luke 20:18).
If we will humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up. It may not be within our lifetime here on earth. But He will reward each of us in heaven for our faithfulness.
Jesus Himself was the ultimate example of what it means to humble ourselves. Here was God the Son, who voluntarily became a human. He began life as a vulnerable baby, born in a stable, to parents so poor they could not afford a lamb for an offering at His circumcision (Luke 2:22-24, c.f. Lev. 12:8), raised in the backwater town of Nazareth (c.f. John 1:46), trained as a carpenter. During His ministry He had “nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20, Luke 9:58). Then He suffered the death of a criminal, by crucifixion. You can’t get any lower than that. But “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). Hallelujah!