Humble Pie Is Best Served First – Lk. 14:1-24
Are you familiar with the idiom ‘eating humble pie’? It’s an idiom used to describe facing humiliation and then having apologize for what has been done. I was thinking of humble pie as I studied today’s text. When I got to the end of my study, for some unknown reason, my brain made the association between pie and dessert.
From there, the next step in my mental journey was acknowledging that kids would rather be served their dessert first. We don’t expect that from adults, but there are times when I would still rather have me dessert first. If humble pie were a dessert, would I want it before my supper or after? I wouldn’t want it at all. But here’s the thing: it’s going to be served one way or another, and I have to eat it. But I get to decide when I want it.
Today’s text is all about humility. God gives us the opportunity to humble ourselves before him in this life or wait until the next life. I can voluntarily humble myself now, or be forced to humble myself after I die. My choice. If I wait to be forced, it will be too late. So I choose to voluntarily do it now. And guess what? I need to do it constantly. There is no room for pride in the hearts of God’s people.