Pride

Why would you do that? You were doing so well and you threw it all away? It seems so pointless for Uzziah to falter in such an unnecessary way. It was completely unprovoked, he barely gained anything from it and yet lost everything because of it.

On the surface, it seems so implausible that Uzziah would take such a risk but this is exactly how pride works. Uzziah probably did not even believe that what he was doing was wrong. He was the king! On top of that, he’d been a great God-honouring king. He’d brought great prosperity to his people. Surely he had the right to do as he chose in God’s temple. It’s exactly this sort of pride that can blind us to our own sin.

Just because we might be doing great things for God, none of that allows you to do what you like. It doesn’t matter how much impact we have made for God, we still need to know our place. Uzziah allowed his successes to blind him from the fact that his calling was to remain faithful to God. If Uzziah had been doing this, he would have known what he was doing was wrong. When he was rebuked he had the opportunity to humble himself to see that what he was doing was wrong but instead he allowed the rebuke to offend him rather than correct him.

Thought Point

How do you respond to rebuke from other Christians? Do you have relationships where that is possible?

Prayer Point

Ask God to give you a heart that is willing to listen to the counsel of others. Ask him to open your eyes to any areas where you are blind to your own flaws.