Daily Devotional
Dust, Charge, and Eternal Life
A man may begin well and yet fall through pride. Azariah did what was right, yet his strength did not give him leave to trespass. When a king reached for what God had not given him, judgment met him. As Cyprian says, "Thus also Uzziah the king — when he bare the censer and violently claimed to himself to sacrifice against God's law, and when Azariah the priest withstood him, would not be obedient and yield — was confounded by the divine indignation." Rank does not excuse disobedience. The rich, the powerful, the learned, and the devout are all under command.
Job reminds us why pride is madness: we are fashioned from dust and live by borrowed breath. God speaks to man to turn him from the pit, to chasten him, to make him hear instruction. Therefore no one should harden himself when corrected. Rebuke may be mercy if it recalls a soul from destruction.
So the apostle commands not self-exaltation but contentment, purity, gentleness, and steadfastness. Wealth is especially dangerous because it teaches the heart to trust what is passing. Cyprian warns, "For they who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many and hurtful desires, which drown a man in perdition and in destruction." The cure is not fine speech about virtue, but a plain life: to flee greed, to do good, to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share.
The same God who formed man from the earth will also judge what each man has loved. Therefore keep the commandment unstained, honor the order God has appointed, receive correction, and lay hold of eternal life by enduring obedience.
“Thus also Uzziah the king — when he bare the censer and violently claimed to himself to sacrifice against God's law, and when Azariah the priest withstood him, would not be obedient and yield — was confounded by the divine indignation, and was polluted upon his forehead by the spot of leprosy: he was marked by an offended Lord in that part of his body…”
— Cyprian, Treatises
“For they who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many and hurtful desires, which drown a man in perdition and in destruction.”
— Cyprian, Treatises
For Reflection & Discussion
What possession, profit, or purchase should you refuse this week so that greed does not rule you, and what part of it will you give to the poor instead?
Where have you pushed beyond the measure God has given you—at home, in the church, or in speech—and what concrete act of repentance and submission will you make today?
What correction have you resisted, and whom will you seek out within three days to confess it, receive counsel, and amend your conduct?
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