Pride. It can be a good thing I guess, but it can turn bad quickly. We say or hear “take pride in what you do, etc.” but what we really should say is “take pride in the God who enables you to do whatever it is.” God cautions us to be humble, not proud. It’s a slippery slope and the evil one can make it appear deserved or earned and very inviting.

Romans 12:3 “… Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

We all have or will struggle with pride at one time or another. It’s one of the temptations put before us. Pride doesn’t just happen with those who don’t know or follow God. Pride can sneak up on us when we are right in the middle of loving and serving God. Such was the case with Moses. God spoke to Moses. He spoke to him in a burning bush. He spoke to him “face to face/presence to presence” as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). They had a close relationship. However, pride crept up on Moses and he found himself missing out on the promised land because of it.

We find the details in Numbers 20:1-13 – “In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community, so they and their livestock can drink.” So, Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebel, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

We see at the beginning of these verses that the Israelites looked to Moses, not God. They asked why Moses brought them to the wilderness. No mention of God. Moses and Aaron humbled themselves when they went in before God. They fell facedown before Him. But, somewhere between God’s instructions and the gathering of the people, pride set in. Oh, how quickly it can come upon us. He did not honor God by obeying God. He put his own twist on it. They still got water but, Moses paid a price for his pride. He never got to enter the promised land. He only got to see it from a distance. Consequences. Always consequences. If we would only consider them before speaking or acting instead of grieving over them afterwards.

This story of Moses really makes me consider my life. When I reach a goal, do I feel pride in myself or simply thank God for the ability and power He gave me to do it? When I do something good for someone else, do I fill up with pride knowing I did a good thing or praise and thank God for letting me see and act on what He put before me? Something to think about.

1 Corinthians 1:31 “Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”