Scripture
The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.
~Proverbs 6:16-19, CSB
Quote
The eyes are the widow of the soul.
~Cicero
The eyes have the power to convey many unspoken feelings and attitudes. Anger may be the easiest to detect but the eyes also express fear, impatience, sorrow, sadness, joy, guilt, disapproval and especially PRIDE. God hates haughty eyes which express an elevated attitude of being superior to others. Pride is condescending; it despises others by looking down on them. The CSB says that God detest haughty eyes; the King James says they are an abomination to God. Something that is abdominal to God offends His character, and He takes particular exception to it. Leviticus 20:13 reads, “If a man also lies with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” Mrs. Bertha Smith said that God hates two sins more than all the other: these are the sins that are abominations to Him, and they are the perversion of sex {homosexuality} and worship {idolatry}. Using scripture as your guide, you will be hard pressed to prove her wrong.
Of course, all sins of transgression are related to pride. It is pride that convinces us that we have a right to do as we please. Unfortunately for us, pride sets us on a collision course with God Himself, and it is a battle that we cannot win. Pride will always lead to a fall or to our destruction. It is insane to challenge God. Either we confess our pride and turn from it or else we face Him one on one, and there is absolutely no doubt who will win that battle. Our pride will bite the dust.
You and I can see the eyes and tell when a person is proud or angry, but God can see the heart. Even the best of us in terms of actors cannot deceive Him. This is why I rebuke proud thoughts. I simply say, “Lord I rebuke this thought, I do not want to think like this because I know it has consequences.” Paul said in Romans 12, Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. He also said in Galatians 6, If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. To the Corinthians Paul said, “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” Pride is to be shunned, and humility embraced.
Extra
Holly and June are in Nashville today for June’s procedure. Joe David and I will be conducting the COLS of Ann Vest, a retired Morgan County school teacher. Ann was promoted late last Saturday night after a long battle with leukemia. She is survived by her husband Bobby and her four children. She also has one sister Gloria Dotson. As always, I need prayer.
I talked with Charles briefly yesterday and he is trying to get the electricians to finish and the floors finished. Once that happens, we could be in the building.
Tonight, at the POINT: “Wisdom Speaks” [Proverbs 1:20-33, Proverbs 8]
God bless you; have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.