If you had to name "two evils", what would they be? "Murder? Homosexuality?" "Drunkness? Adultery?" "Lying? Stealing". These are sins, yes, but they are not the evils which God addresses in our study today. The above are merely symptoms of evil but not the source. Something else must first be present in man before he commits a sin. That something is "pride".

Pride has two sides to its ugly face. One side says "no" to God, and the other says, "Yes" to the forbidden. The proud give no thought to God. They seek not His glory; they seek their own. And in today's study, we are going to see the mindlessness of the proud man and how his pride ultimately leaves his soul dead to the spiritual reality that does exist.

What would you say of a man, who had access to an endless and fresh running stream of cool, clear water, but refused to drink from its abundance? He simply would not bend down to drink. He felt it undignified. So instead, he preferred to drink from a cistern (a catch basin) which he proudly fashioned and formed to collect rain water. Obviously, he built it tall enough where he would not have to get on his knees. But his problem in collecting water is that the heavens had to be kind enough to rain.

But let us take this a step further. What would you say of this man's dependence upon his fashioned cistern, if you knew the cistern was cracked and would not hold water? Would he then go to the stream of fresh water? You would think so. But if not, would you say he was mad? Absolutely!

Well, believe it or not, the above story is about you and me when we step outside the boundaries of the spiritual life. Such excursions are mindless and without thought. They're more emotional and impatient. Impatient with God, actually. Such impatience leads to bad decisions.

Hence, we have the definition of PRIDE-the forsaking of God's rule for self rule. The carnal minded becomes easily tempted, enticed, and conned into going after and seeking, whether by thought or action, that which has been forbidden by God. To satisfy their desires, they must turn their back upon God. The "Me First" syndrome takes precedent. Me is elevated to the position of God, while God is demoted to servant. Therefore, it is evil to place self above God.

Such a mindless attitute, this evil thing called pride, is indeed dangerous to our spiritual health. Like our example above, it is like walking away from a fresh and cool stream of pure water to go after drink impure and unsafe. Though the waters might taste sweet at first, consequences will ensue and overtake.

These impure and unsafe drinks are designed by the world's thirst quenchers to entice some hidden lust or passion or inner weakness. And if we heed the call of these worldly sirens, we will be led away from God's safety and into the danger of Satan's rule, the Sphere of Carnality. Where, in short order, nothing but a soured mind and spoiled spirit will exist. This is not a pleasing state before God.

We must constantly remind ourselves where our true food and drink come. Our spiritual sustenance comes from God, the river of living water. Without this living water, our spirituality immediately dies or to put it biblically, we quench the Holy Spirit's influence and power. We "cut ourselves off from grace." This is a serious concern. We must take it as such. I feel most of the time, we do not.