A Name for Ourselves

January 6

Genesis 11-12

Psalm 5:1-6

Proverbs 1:15-16

Matthew 5:27-47

A Name for Ourselves

“And they said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  Genesis 11:4 LSB

Since the beginning of time, Satan has appealed to man’s desire for importance.  He enticed Eve with the idea of being “like God, knowing good from evil.”  In this passage, we find him dangling the carrot of making a name for themselves in front of the people.  He understands that we want to feel important.  We want to feel appreciated and revered.  We want to be exalted.  This was Satan’s biggest problem.  He was the most beautiful of all the angels.  He held a high position and had esteem in heaven, but he wanted more.  He wanted to be exalted above God.  He wanted to be God.  None of us would admit we want to be God, but if we are completely honest with ourselves, we want to be the God of our own lives.  We want to be in control.  We want to get to make all the decisions and choose what we do and what we don’t do.  And if we are really transparent, we would have to admit that we really want to control those around us, too.  We want them to do what we want and to submit to our desires. 

There is a fine line between wanting to be appreciated and respected and wanting to be revered.  It is easy to be critical of the inhabitants of Babel for their pride and at the same time fail to recognize the pride in our own hearts.  Pride is a sneaky thing.  It affects us all.  It is even possible to take pride in our humility. Unfortunately, Satan knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows where we are vulnerable and he knows which buttons he can push to get a reaction.  It is often easy to recognize the pride in others and yet be completely oblivious to our own prideful attitudes and tendencies. 

It is a good idea to periodically ask God to examine our hearts for areas of pride and to confess those things to Him and cooperate with Him to develop a humble and contrite spirit. At the beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect and ask Him to reveal any areas He wants to work on in your life in the coming months. Our goal should always be to exalt Him and seek to make His name known and not to make a name for ourselves.