self-centeredness – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

As I’ve been reflecting on the life of Samson the past few days, two things stick out to me.

First and foremost, his whole life was self-centered. Even when he did things beneficial to the Israelites, defeating their enemies, it was totally incidental. It wasn’t his desire to deliver his people. It seems his desires were motivated purely by revenge.

Second, his relationship with God was practically non-existent. The only time he interacted with God was to ask him for help.

You never see him building altars. You never see him worshiping. You never see him giving thanks to God for his victories, or for anything else for that matter.

God did use him to bring some measure of relief to the Israelites from the Philistines.

But you never see him leading anyone. The only interaction you see him having with his own people ends with them handing him over to his enemies. (Judges 15:11-13)

He most certainly led no one to follow God.

He, like everyone else at the time, did only what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 14:17; 17:6)

I don’t want to be that way. I want my heart to be God’s, inspiring others to follow him.

How about you?

A self-centered life

Who are you living for? For many people, the answer is, “Myself.”

That’s definitely who Shebna, the palace steward, was living for. He thought so much of himself, that he even had a tomb carved out for himself, something that usually only royalty did. And he was hardly royalty.

Not only that, he did this in a time of trouble for Judah. It was under attack by the Assyrians and many people were hurting.

So the Lord rebukes him, saying,

What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock.

Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away O you mighty man.

He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there your splendid chariots will remain — you disgrace to your master’s house!

I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position. (Isaiah 22:16-19)

In his place, the Lord said he would put Eliakim, a man who would be “a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.” (21)

And God said of him,

I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory will hang on him (23-24).

I heard a message by a pastor who had fallen hard several years ago, but who by God’s grace is slowly being restored, both in his personal life and in his ministry.

But the thing he said was that he fell because everything had become about him. He had forgotten that it was a privilege given by God to be in the position he had been in.

It’s so easy to rip pastors who fall. And they should be held to a higher standard. The Bible says to whom much is given, much is required.

But the thing to remember, the thing I remember, is that anyone can fall.

And whenever we make ourselves the center of our lives, we’re in danger of losing all that we have: our marriages, our families, our ministries, everything we have in life.

So instead of ripping those who fall, we need to take a serious look at ourselves.

We need to ask ourselves, “How about me? Who’s the center of my life? Is it me? Or is it the Lord? Am I living to serve myself? Or am I living to serve Him and the people he has given me.”

The ironic thing of it all is that if humble ourselves and make our lives about serving God and others, like Eliakim, we will be given honor and glory.

Who are you living for?