Before the Rooster Crows...

Proverbs 14:16 "A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident"

Pride. Warren Wiersbe says that "Pride is the soil from which sin grows" and I couldn't agree more. What is scary about pride is how sometimes we don't notice its roots in our lives. What some of us might call confidence, God would call pride. To think you can stand in the face of sin and withstand it on your own is pride.

When Peter said to Jesus "No Lord, I'll never leave you!" he was definitely not saying this out of humility. Had Peter have said "Lord, I am so prone to leave you, please give me the strength and resolve to remain, despite how I might feel," the result would have been different.

The first part of this verse reminds me a lot of Joseph. When Joseph was presented with the temptation of Potipher's wife, he took off running. Why? Because Joseph understood sin in that he knew as a man, in his own strength, he would sin if he remained in that place. So what did he do? He ran and sought after God. In running he admitted to God, "Lord I can't do this on my own, and the longer I subject myself to this temptation, the more prone I am to committing sin."

1 Cor 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Temptation can easily ensnare us, and it gives birth to sin, which if not uprooted can bring forth death (James 1:13-16). Sometimes the best way to uproot it is to avoid it, because in doing so, you never allow the seed to be planted.

Don't be overconfident, you'll be sure to fall. If the door is open, run, and don't look back.

"Pride cometh before failure and a haughty spirit before the fall" Proverbs 16:18