Today's Favorite Verse: Proverbs 16:18
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
I am always attracted to stories of pride, because pride is the one thing that can crack the shell of a righteous man. It is a weakness in all of us. I liked this talk by Brother Burton and the story of the battleship. It shows that if we will not humble ourselves we will be compelled to be humble.
"Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our ability to hearken courageously to the word of the Lord involves our egos, vain ambitions, and pride. It seems that the proud find it burdensome to hear and accept the instruction of God. We are told in Proverbs that “pride goeth before destruction”. The proud are more anxious about man’s judgment than they are of God’s judgment.
You may remember a story about a ship’s captain who had a problem with his pride. One night at sea, this captain saw what looked like the light of another ship heading toward him. He had his signalman blink to the other ship: “Change your course 10 degrees south.” The reply came back, “Change your course 10 degrees north.” The ship’s captain answered: “I am a captain. Change your course south.” To which the reply came, “Well, I am a seaman first class. Change your course north.” This so infuriated the captain, he signaled back, “I say change your course south. I am on a battleship!” To which the reply came back, “And I say change your course north. I am in a lighthouse” (adapted and used with permission, HOPE Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan).
(H. David Burton, "Courage to Hearken", April 1994 General Conference)
Day 2803
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