Putting Off Pride In The Coming Year
"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."
Psalm 20:7
In order to quell a rebellion in the north of Scotland, the English king issued a proclamation to all the rebel chiefs to appear at a given place on or before the thirty-first of December, 1691, and take the oath of allegiance to the king. Those who did not appear were to be treated as outlaws, liable to execution as traitors to the crown. Although humiliating, it was useless to rebel with such small numbers.
One by one gave way, and all had affixed their names to the paper except one. Mac Ian was the leader of the smallest yet haughtiest tribe. He did not intend finally to resist, but he hoped to be the last of the Scottish chiefs to submit. A day or two before the thirty-first, he started. A severe snowstorm impeded his way, and he did not arrive till nearly a week after the king's messenger had returned to London. A band of soldiers immediately sought the Valley of Glencoe, and Mac Ian and his followers became victims of his proud obstinacy.
How many in our day hazard their souls, as Mac Ian hazarded his life, by refusing to obey the commands of the King of Kings!
Prayer: Ask God to help you live humbly in the coming year.
"God can never entrust His Kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself."
~Francis Frangipane