Stay Humble, Eh?

Ever since I began a course on writing, the use and placement of punctuation marks have gained extra significance to me. In one of the modules of the course, we were taught how punctuation marks have the ability to turn drab sentences into artistic prose.

For someone who had been winging it (sort of) when it came to the lesser used punctuation marks, it’s as if I’ve had scales removed from my eyes. Whenever I now read through literature, I see how authors use certain punctuation to make different kinds of impressions.

Maybe that’s why 1 Peter 5:6-7 caught my attention like it hadn’t quite done before.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 (KJV)

One function of the colon is to introduce ideas that build on the preceding sentence. In other words, it signals, “Hope you’ve been listening—I’m about to drive my point home!” So when I saw the colon in the KJV translation, I thought, “oh, there’s definitely some connection between verse 7 and the previous verses.”

“In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under His mighty hand BY casting ALL your cares on Him because He cares for you.” (NET)

Read in context, it becomes quite clear that choosing not to cast our cares on God is a form of pride. And He’s not asking for 80% or 90% of our cares: He’s asking for all of it. It’s because He cares for you. He wants you to keep your gaze on Him and your trust in His ability.

His everlasting arms are big enough to accommodate every worry you might have. He wants you to rest from all your works. He wants to take your burdens and lay His light yoke on you so that you’re always connected to Him. That’s where the Grace to continue is—with Him!

Resist every urge to help God carry your burdens. Stay humble and keep casting ALL of those cares on Him. We receive Grace to always trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. Amen.