We all know someone who has it all together on the outside. Successful, sharp, admired, and respected. Everything the world honors and then one day it all comes apart, and nobody can quite explain why.
There is a kind of judgment God brings that has nothing to do with obvious rebellion. It has to do with something quieter; pride in the gifts He gave us.
Ezekiel saw this happen to the King of Tyre and God said something about it that every Christian should hear.
Ezekiel 28:7 “Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.”
God was going to send the sword and it wasn’t just against the king. It was against “the beauty of his wisdom”. God was going to attack the very thing he was proud of.
God Notices When We Get Proud Of Our Gifts
The King of Tyre was wise, beautiful, and successful. God had given him all of it, but he did not thank God. In fact, the king did the opposite of thanking God, he credited himself.
Ezekiel 28:5 “By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.”
God Will Draw The Sword Against What We Boast In
Ezekiel 28:7 says the sword will be drawn against “the beauty of thy wisdom” and will “defile thy brightness.”
God will strip the very things we glory in if we start glorying in them instead of Him.
We see this pattern all through Scripture:
* Nebuchadnezzar was humbled until he ate grass like an ox.
* Herod was struck down for taking glory.
* Uzziah was struck with leprosy the moment he reached for what was not his.
Every leader who took credit for what God gave them lost it in the end.
1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?”
The Way Forward Is Humble Stewardship
Every Christian has been given something special from God. Some have been given intelligence, or beauty, or influence, or wealth, or leadership ability. None of it is bad and all of it is a gift.
The question is who gets the credit.
1 Peter 5:5-6 “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
If we hold our gifts loosely and give God the glory, He will use us. If we clutch them tightly and take the credit, He may draw the sword against the very beauty we would not lay down.
God does not oppose our gifts, He opposes our pride in them.
Whatever He has given you, hold it with an open hand. Because the same God who gave the beauty can also draw the sword against it.
