THE ANT’S SHADOW

 

Dear Friends,

It is important that we not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and thus be guilty of pride which can lead to a fall. It is also important that we not think too little of ourselves and thus fail to obey the Lord because of low self-esteem. The devil uses both of these problems to hinder our usefulness to the Lord. He tells us we are no good, and we suffer from a low self-esteem that paralyzes us. Then when the Lord does use us and we do something good, the devil changes his approach and says, “You know, I was wrong about you. You really are good. As a matter of fact, you are great.” His intention is to produce arrogance. The Lord, however, wants us to think soberly. It is possible to be confident and humble. The godly attitude is, “I can do nothing apart from Christ, but I can do all things through Christ.

Billy Long 

  THE ANT’S SHADOW


I was on the roof of a very large building and saw an ant walking across the surface. I noticed that this small ant was casting a very large shadow in comparison to the ant's actual size. The shadow was about 20 times larger than the ant. I took a photo and thought about what this ant might have said to his fellow-workers when he arrived back at the nest. Full of pride, holding his head up high and stretching to stand tall, he boasted, "Hey, guys, I just realized I am about 20 times bigger than I thought I was," 

He proceeded to tell them how great he was and how his shadow had shown him he was 20 times bigger that all the others. 
 However, the little fellow was pretty embarrassed the next day when he looked in the mirror and realized he was just a little guy...like all the others. 

Jesus rode on a donkey when He made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-40). Can you imagine that donkey coming home from work that day and telling his wife, "Sweetheart, I was wonderful today. I finally received all the recognition I deserve. All the people were so happy to see me as I entered town. They greeted me with joyful shouts. They threw palm branches on the ground in front of me. They shouted great adoration and praise." The foolish donkey had a self-inflated image of himself and should have recognized that the glory was meant for Jesus.

All of us enjoy doing well and receiving compliments, but we should remain humble. We should thank others when they compliment us or tell us how much our service and gifting blesses them, but when we get home, we should go into our prayer closet and present those "trophies" to Jesus. They belong to him. Jesus delights in using us; but It is the grace of God working in and through us that ministers to other people. Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15: 4).

Like the ant, we don’t need to be “20 times bigger.” We just need to be ourselves and do what our Father calls us to do with the gifting and talents He gives us. And like the donkey, we don’t need man’s praise that is meant for the Lord. We should be honored that Jesus has chosen us to bring praise, honor, and glory to Him.

 

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