Wednesday, April 24, 2013

U is for Uzziah:When Pride Drags You Down


Uzziah:When Pride Drags You Down

A to Z Blog Challenge 2013

By Christine/Growing up victoria
British novelist Barbara Cartland began to mingle in royal circles when her daughter Raine married the 8th Earl of Spencer, father to Dian, Princes of Wales. When Cartland was interviewed by the BBC the interviewer asked if she thought that class barriers had finally broken down in Britain.  “Of course they have.” She replied,” or I wouldn't be talking to someone like you.”

Name:  “My strength is Jehovah”

Date:   8th Century BC.

Identification:  9th  king of Southern Kingdom, son of Amaziah.

Story Line:  A powerful king who failed in the end because of 
pride.

Read it in the Bible:  2 Chronicles 26: 1-23.



Proverbs 16:18 notes, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,”  It was pride that did in one of Judah’s longest—reigning kings, King Uzziah.

Also called Azariah (2 Kings 14: 11; 15:1-7).

Uzziah was a wise and powerful ruler.  His military campaigns were legendary.  He broke down the walls of Gath and Ashdod and built his own cities in the heart of Philistine territory.  He defeated the Arabs and forced the Ammonites to pay tribute to him.  Second Chronicles 26:5 says, “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

But in the end, Uzziah’s heart became proud.

He entered the temple to burn incense.  When Azariah the high priest and eighty associates confronted him, Uzziah responded in anger instead of repentance, and consequently God’s judgment made him a leper.

Success often leads to pride.  That’s why we must always temper success with humility.  If we become proud of our successes instead of using them to glorify God, those very successes can be the source of our greatest defeat.  Today, thank God for every success He has given you, whether in your family, your business, your church, or your personal life.  But let’s not become proud of our successes.  The real cause behind them is God.


Source:
Confident Living Magazine
Pic Credit; A to Z Blog Challenge

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