Passage Read: Ezekiel 28-31
Meditation Verses: 28:2-5
Thought
Intelligence, particularly wisdom, and financial success are two of three most common sources of personal pride leading to arrogance. Jeremiah warns against a man boasting of his wisdom, strength or riches, instead of in knowing the Lord. Tyre actually had all three, so it's no wonder it was so proud, and its ruler thought himself a god. It would be dangerous to have any one of these strengths, worse to have all three, without being committed to knowing and serving the true God. The only defense against arrogance and pride, according to Scripture, is to read the Scriptures daily for the purpose of doing what they command.
Application
Though I have nothing in these three areas to boost about, still it is important to read the Scriptures every day to be instructed or reminded what God expects of me in life, in order to do it. That is actually the path to knowing God, which is the one thing I can and should endeavor to make my source of pride. It is possible to understand and know the Lord, but it takes daily reading and putting into practice what all the Scriptures teach. It is not enough to daily study certain sections of the Scriptures so as to teach their content, but to read it all, again and again, and do what it instructs. That is the only real path to understanding and knowing the Lord. That is the only real safeguard against the kind of pride that leads to destruction.