The Pride of Your Heart Has Deceived You - Apples of Gold - July 6, 2009 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 6, 2009

“The Pride of Your Heart Has Deceived You”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

He was raised around the wealth of the nation.

His father was a national leader, and when the time came, he, too, stepped onto the national stage.

He was a good man, and a Godly man, and he reaped the benefits.

He got involved with the military, and with his leadership his nation enjoyed great victories.

Then he got involved in building projects, again with great success.

And with each success he grew more powerful.  His fame spread, and other nations began to recognize him.

He ended up as the top man in the country, a position he seemed created for.  He was a true visionary, and from his administration came large building projects and growth in agriculture. 

Under his guidance, the army was well organized, well trained and well supplied.  He even formed a group of specialists to design new weapons and defense strategies.

Everything he touched seemed to be successful.  And for this his fame spread far and wide, and he grew even more powerful.

Sounds like a great position to be in, doesn’t it?  This guy sounds like the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

Well luck had nothing to do with it.

The man I’m talking about is Uzziah (you-ZIE-uh), King of Judah.

He ruled the land about 700 years before Christ, and he was king for about half a century.

Second Chronicles 26 tells us why he was so successful.

First of all, Uzziah had great mentors.  Verse four says his father did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Verse five says Zechariah “instructed him in the fear of God.”

When it came time to make his own choices, verse 4 says Uzziah also did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Verse 5 says, “He sought God…” and “As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.”

That fits nicely with Psalm 34:10, “…those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Psalm 105:4 says, “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”

Deuteronomy 4:29 indicates that if we seek the Lord our God, we will find Him if we look for Him with all of our heart and soul.

That’s what King Uzziah did, He sought the Lord.  And as long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

So Uzziah serves as a great example for us.

But then he also serves as a great warning.

There he was, one of the most successful men in the world.  Basically, he had it all. 

But it just wasn’t enough.

Second Chronicles 26:16 says, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.”

This is a huge danger when you enjoy a lot of success.  When enough things go right for you, you start to think it’s because you’re so wonderful.

It happens when you make money while others struggle, when you succeed while others fail, when your family is solid while others crumble, when you walk tall while others are bent low.

When that happens, it’s easy to stop seeking the Lord.  You take your eyes off God and begin looking at yourself.  You have the answers.  You know what to do, and everyone else would be more successful if they would just be more like you.

In the words of the prophet Obadiah, “The pride of your heart has deceived you.”

Or like the old proverb says, “Pride comes before the fall.”

In Uzziah’s case, he thought he was above the temple laws.  Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were consecrated to burn incense to the Lord. 

But Uzziah decided he would just go in and do it himself.  So he took a censor and entered the sanctuary.  There he was confronted by the priests.  “Courageous priests,” the Bible says.

Well Uzziah went into a rage.  How dare they try to tell him what he can and cannot do?

Then God stepped in.  Suddenly, right there on the spot, Uzziah was stricken with leprosy, which he had until the day he died.

It was a classic case of “Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

And that’s the life of Uzziah.

Let’s follow the great example of his younger years and seek the Lord with all of our heart.  God will give us success as we seek Him in all our ways.

And let’s heed the warning of his later years, that when success comes, we do not become proud.

Let us humble ourselves before our God so that it is never said of us, “The pride of your heart has deceived you.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip 
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
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