Day 229, Year 1

Confessing the Truth of Human Life

“A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23 NKJV)

“He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.'” (Job 1:21 NASB)

In the first verse of today, “pride,” ga’avah in Hebrew, can be interpreted in two ways. Positively, it means “majesty, proud, or a rising up”; and negatively, it also means “arrogance, or haughtiness.” This word refers primarily to the glory seen on the surface. Interpreting its meaning constructively, people’s glory can lead them to be humble. For instance, if people’s glory is built on their wealth or physical strength, such glory vanishes when those things are lost. For whoever is naked out of his or her mother’s womb will return naked to dust. At the moment of birth and death, there is really no one who boasts of the worldly glory or honor he or she has.

Furthermore, human life is a gift in itself, a grace from God as implied in the second verse of today. On more than one occasion, I had dreamed that the Lord’s messenger presented a square gift box to each of two married sisters in Him respectively; following that, they soon got pregnant. The second verse says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.” This pretty much concludes everything in human life in the world. Even if we feel honored, it is a bestowment from God, and there is no reason for anyone to boast. Rather, we should keep saying, “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Once, I heard believers saying, “I earn money, so why should I give my offerings?” “Is your church short of money?” “Offering is charitable, and not offering is reasonable.…” In fact, there has never been a church that has been able to do the work of the Lord well because of its abundance of money. Instead, we should ask ourselves: Where do our hands come from? Can I make a pair of useful hands for myself? When people use their hands properly and earn money, should they not give thanks to God through tangible gifts or offerings? Actually, He wants everyone to make good use of His gifts, which are our lives, and always live in gratitude for Him. This is one of the meanings of humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Conversely, people can choose to abandon or destroy the gift of their lives. If they decide to destroy it or the lives of others, they will, for sure, ultimately harm themselves and regret it.

Reflection questions:

1) How do you feel about the verse above: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there”?

2) What do you think or feel about “each life is a gift from God”?