Part 4: When Your Pride Is Showing Series

Last week we learned that as Christians, we’re all like vases: vessels designed to be used in the house of God, and as vessels we’re called to be sanctified: set aside as holy vessels, for noble use in the house of God… To be used for God’s purposes, in His Kingdom.

Unfortunately, all of us sanctified vessels have little faults, which are constantly in need of attention. Those little cracks and leaks represent the desires of the flesh, and the things in ourselves that we constantly struggle to keep under Godly control such as worry, anger and lust. As vessels in God’s house, we all have our faults.

Let’s face it: there are just some days when we just don’t hold our “holy water” very well, aren’t there? One of our major faults is the powerful and life-altering sin we call pride.

Pride and noble service in the house of God don’t mix well, do they? Satan: 1st example.

Isa 14:13-15, “You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”

I will… I will…, I will… Five times this proud angel named himself above God.

He was the first passenger on the ego trip and GOD cast him out of his presence, as He will do to all of those who follow Satan on the Pride Ride.

Lucifer convinced Adam and Eve to take the Pride Ride. His foremost temptation to them was this; “you will not surely die! For God knows that in the day you eat of its fruit your eyes will be open, and you will be like GOD.”

Note the parallel. Satan said, “I will be like the most high. He told Adam and Eve, “you will be like GOD,” his words are the very essence of pride. “I can be like GOD. I can make my own decisions, my own judgments, my own laws and rules.

When Adam and Eve took the Pride Ride they took us along with them. And we had been struggling with pride ever sense.

Most of us have heard the story of the Triumphal Entry…

That incredible day when our Lord Jesus came riding into town on the back of a little donkey. The crowds went berserks that day, running ahead of Jesus shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

On that wonderful day, Jesus was hailed as King of the Jews, and rightly so! Most of us have heard the story told from many points of view, but I’ll bet none of you ever heard it from the donkey’s perspective: the little animal on which The King rode that day.

That donkey had a great time on Palm Sunday! In fact, on the morning after, the donkey woke up, still in the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. He never knew such praise and adoration before in his life. What a rush of pleasure and pride that was! In fact, it felt so good, he thought he’d go out and try it again.

So the donkey gets up, shakes the dust off and trots into town for a replay of the day before.

But as he approaches a group of people by the well he thinks, “I’ll show my beautiful self to these people and get some more of that praise like I did yesterday.”

But nobody noticed him. They all went on drawing their water and ignored him like he wasn’t even there. He was a little upset. His pride was bruised, so he said, “Throw your garments down! Don’t you know who I am?” All the people turned around, looking at him in amazement. Someone even slapped him on the rear and ordered him to move.

Man was that donkey upset. Distraught and indignant, he scampered off saying, “Those miserable heathens! I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They’ll remember me from yesterday.” But the same thing happened at the market that happened back at the well. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down Main Street in front of the market place.

“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches?” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!” So the donkey headed back home to his mother, tail between his legs and told her his story of bewilderment. His mother just looked at him with a smirk on her face and said, “Foolish child. Don’t you realize: without Jesus, you’re just an ordinary donkey?”