Devotional: The Pride of Lucifer

Isaiah 14:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Lucifer's pride got him in trouble. Notice how many "I will" statements he makes:

I will ascent into heaven

I will exalt my throne

I will sit

I will ascend above the heights

I will be like the most High

Lucifer appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden and offered her the same lie that brought him down. He said, "I will be like the most High." Genesis 3:5 tells us what he said to Eve, "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

It's the same lie he offers people today and man in his pride accepts the lie. People are lured by the promise of money, fame and power. Many religions offer their followers the prestige of becoming gods themselves. "I will be like the most High." It's nothing new. It's the age old lie of Satan. It's the appeal to pride.

He tries to lead God's people astray with pride so as to make them ineffective for His work.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Pride is such an insidious thing. It creeps up on us unawares if we are not alert to it. We need to remember the warning in 1 Peter 5:8.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

(KJV)