Cast Your Crowns
By Shauna Leis
“Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.’”
Revelation 4:9-11
One only needs to look around in society once to understand that pride has infiltrated every aspect of our culture. Pride causes people to steal from others because they want what they do not have. Pride causes people to lie about their accomplishments to make others look less accomplished than themselves. Pride causes couples to dissolve their marriage because one or both spouses cannot say “I’m sorry.” Pride causes rifts between a parent and a child because neither one can admit his own fault in the situation. Pride causes nations to go to war to prove that one has more power than the other.
God so wanted to warn His people about pride that He gave them seven different Proverbs that spoke to the evils of pride out of control, in addition to the numerous other verses warning against pride. One of the most famous verses is likely Proverbs 16:18 that indicates, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” God knows that with pride typically comes destruction and demise because we are not thinking logically when controlled by a prideful spirit. We make rash decisions, and we certainly do not seek God for His wisdom and His guidance. There are times that we even make ourselves out to be greater than God.
Conversely, many times we are up against others who might be suffering from a case of overgrown pride. They may be trying to tear us down so they can make themselves look better. My little boy recently experienced this at basketball camp. One of the other little boys was trying to make fun of Nathan so that he would look better in front of the coach. However, instead of Nathan trying to take revenge, Nathan was the better person and relied on God’s Word to see him through.
Psalm 31:17-18 says, “Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the grave.
Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.”
When we or others we know are experiencing a pride issue, the only hope for any of us is to throw ourselves before Christ. Even the elders in heaven realized that before Christ, they were nothing. Revelation 4:9-11 indicates, “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.’” The elders in heaven seated near Christ did not consider themselves worthy of being near Him and fell down and cast their crowns at Christ’s feet.
In ancient times when a king seized another kingdom’s throne, he was allowed to wear multiple crowns showing his power over all. The elders submitted themselves before Christ and cast out their own pride in the form of their crowns, knowing they were not worthy to be in Christ’s presence by their own merit. Only Christ is capable of truly wearing multiple crowns as He alone is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So, the elders humbled themselves before the throne instead of trying to puff themselves up and convince others that they were more than they really were. They realized their place before a Holy God.
So, how about you and me? Do we need to do a little crown tossing ourselves before the throne of Christ? Just like in the old saying, have we gotten “a little too big for our britches” and let our pride take control? Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” I do not know about you, but there are times in my life when I need a stiff dose of some humility to get me back on track and rid me of that prideful spirit. Only God can work through us, though, to accomplish this. Will you trust Him today?
Pray with me: Almighty God, we come before You and bring our crowns of pride to throw them at Your feet. We no longer want to consider ourselves better than others, especially better than You. Bring us low if that is what is required to rid us of this prideful spirit that interferes in our lives. We want to build others up and not be so concerned about what is in it for us. Rather, we want to bring glory to You in all that we do. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.