1. Humble people submit to God’s provision as their Shepherd (2:12). They enjoy his role as supplier, and gladly say, “He takes care of me.”
2. Humble people submit to God’s authority as their King (2:13). They embrace his role as ruler and gladly say, “He rules over me.”

When these things are our mindset, we don’t have piles of pride blocking our view of God. All the ‘stuff’ and ‘self’ is flattened, and God alone is lifted high. We see clearly that God is all we need and God is all we heed!

Jesus did exactly this, and no there’s no better picture of it than the one painted for us in Philippians 2. He humbled himself – he flattened himself – and became obedient to life as a mere man and death on a cruel cross. He took the “down escalator” from heaven’s throne and embraced the Father’s authority and provision. Why? So that we could be saved! Have you allowed his humility to take hold in your life?

Once saved, we can then live humbly like Jesus, our prime example of humility. And I can think of no better time than Christmas – or is it Me-mas? – to model his behavior. He took the escalator down. We can, too!

And that’s really what humility is – taking the down escalator! In fact, I thought back to my first memories of escalators – Wow, I thought. A moving staircase! I don’t know how old I was exactly, but I remember stepping toward the edge, wondering if those metal teeth were going to eat me up. Once I get on, can I get off? What about the end – will my shoes get caught and will I be trapped under the escalator? Yet, my dad was already on it, and if I was going to stay with him, I had to take the ride down. So I choose to step towards the descent, even with my questions and fears.

Humility is like our ride on the ‘down’ escalator – we step towards it and embrace the descent, no doubt wondering what might happen, but always trusting and obeying in our Shepherd and King.

Merry CHRISTmas!