Don’t think to highly of yourself (Take a lower seat Luke 14:7-14)

Don’t think to highly of yourself (Take a lower seat Luke 14:7-14)
At some point in my adult life, I started looking at things much differently when those around me had failing points in their life. I stopped thinking to myself, how and the world could they have done this and started thinking that could have just as easily have been me who fell into that trap. I stopped thinking so highly of myself and started to realize that I am no better than they are and if I had let me guard down, I could be in the same situation. Instead of judging or trying to figure out their thought process, I realized I was just as capable of doing the same thing and began to have compassion for them. In the parable of Jesus that we begin to study today from Luke 14:7-14, Jesus tells us that we must guard our heart against thinking too highly of ourselves. He tells the story of an individual invited to a wedding and walks right in to set up front because he knows in his own heart that he is an important guest. The problem is the family of those being married did not feel the same and they had to ask him to give up his set for others and move to the back of room. Jesus said it would be much better to have sat down in the back and be asked to move forward than to set in the front and be asked to move back.
Jesus says in verse 11 that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalt in this life. We may look at this and say that this does not seem to be the way our world works, the flamboyant, boisterous characters seem to be the ones who get ahead. Just look at the politicians, celebrities and charismatic individuals in our society that seem to get ahead while the meek and humble struggle. God’s Kingdom does not work like our world, Jesus said in Matthew 20:16 that those who seem to be first in this world will be last in His Kingdom and those who seem to be last in this world will be first in His Kingdom. The eternal Kingdom of God esteems those with a servant’s heart, while our world esteems those with the biggest personality. Our love for Jesus drives us to have compassion on those around us and to live lives of humility with the understanding that none of us have earned nor do we deserve the grace that has been extended to us by God. We choose to set in the back because we know that is where we belong due to our sinful rebellion but for some reason the loving hand of God beckons us to move forward as our love and commitment to Him grows.