April 15, 2020: Unsinkable? Think again.
On this day in the year 1912, the famous ship the Titanic sank. Some facts about the Titanic: it was as long as three football fields, it burned 600 tons of coal every day to keep moving. If you don’t know the story, it hit an iceberg and sank in about 2 hours. But according to some stories, the ship was going pretty fast through cold waters–even though they’d had six warnings of icebergs. They didn’t have enough time to turn away once they saw the iceberg coming–for some reason, the binoculars were locked up, so the lookouts were only using their eyesight –they had 37 seconds between seeing the iceberg and hitting it. Its nickname was ‘The Unsinkable Ship’, which is a pretty arrogant name. And it hit the iceberg on its very first time at sea…
We sometimes get arrogant–wait, you don’t? Come on, we all do in some way. Maybe you think you know more than your parents. Maybe you think you are so good at baseball that you don’t need to practice. Do you always think you’re right? Do you interrupt people because what you have to say is more important than what they are saying? Hmmm….
God warns us about being too proud–it’s one of the sins he warns about a lot actually. So beware. What’s the way to be instead? Humble. Humility is the key.
2 Proud and boastful people will be shamed, but wisdom stays with those who are modest and humble.
Proverbs 11:2 (ERV)
18 Pride is the first step toward destruction. Proud thoughts will lead you to defeat.
Proverbs 16:18 (ERV)
3 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 (ERV)
Dear God in Heaven, Son and Holy Spirit, work in my life, work in my heart. Forgive me for being selfish and for my pride. Help me to learn to be humble. Amen.
