2 Chronicles 26:1-23

Pride is a terrible sin that seems to infect our hearts and bring us down to ruin.  Uzziah had one of the longest reigns in all of Judah, and he was a great and prosperous king until he became proud and ended up sinning greatly before the Lord.  The blessings of God in our lives should produce praise, not pride; but is seems that our tendency is to claim credit for the works of God instead of honoring Him as we should.  God insists on being the only object of our worship and He blesses those who worship Him in amazing ways.  However, we have a very bad habit of turning the blessings of God in our lives into motives for pride and self-worship.  Problems can be blessings in disguise because they tend to make us depend on the Lord.  Blessings can be dangerous to us because they often cause us to be proud and self-reliant.

UZZIAH WAS PLEASING TO THE LORD AND RECEIVED POWER: Uzziah became king when he was only sixteen years old.  Fortunately he had a godly mentor in the prophet Zechariah.  He was an obedient king and was faithful to do as the Lord commanded him.  God blessed him for his faithfulness by giving him great victories over the enemies of Israel.  The surrounding nations had invaded much of Israel, but God gave Uzziah the power to drive them back.  He was an intelligent and creative leader who experienced victory after victory and his fame spread across the nations.  He was able to build up the defenses in Jerusalem and his army was large and well equipped.  God is faithful to bless those who are obedient to Him.  God loves to bless His children just as we love to give gifts to our children.  However, we must be very careful not to allow the blessings of God to inflate our egos or cause us to forget about the Lord.

UZZIAH WAS PROUD BEFORE THE LORD AND RECEIVED PUNISHMENT: As Uzziah’s fame began to spread throughout the land, Uzziah began to believe his own “press reports.”  Fortunately he did not stray into the worship of idols and false gods as his father and grandfather had done.  Unfortunately, his pride led him to take upon himself the responsibilities that only a priest was allowed to perform.  He came into the temple and offered incense before the altar of the Lord.  This is the result of pride in his life.  When the priests came and confronted him he would not listen to them and became angry.  The sure sign of pride in our lives is when we refuse to listen to the advice of godly men and when we become angry when others confront our sins.  Joash and Amaziah refused to listen to godly counsel in their later years and now Uzziah is following the same pattern.  God stops him short by striking him with leprosy and he finally left the temple humiliated.  It is far better to remain humble before the Lord and experience His provision in our lives than it is to be humiliated by the Lord while experiencing His punishment. 

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