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The Power of Pride

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  (Hebrews 12:1-3)

When I reflect upon this verse and think about those sins that prevent me from fixing my eyes on Jesus, one of the first things that come to mind is my pride.  A couple weeks ago I was reviewing some of the verse applications I had written last year.  I came across the following words that I had shared in the app entitled “Nothing is Hidden From God” written on 8/8/1999:

“The main reason I created this site was twofold:  1) To share my love for Christ with others and  2) To overcome my resistance to read the bible.  For most of my life, reading the bible has been as painful as pulling teeth.  With this site, I'm now forced to open the bible at least once a week (outside of church) and type out all the verses for the week.  Even if no hits were registered on “Frank's World”, I'd still take joy, because for the first time in my life, I'm actively reading the bible.”

I began to think about the first thing I did when I returned home from work each night for the previous couple months: 
1)   Turn on my computer
2)   Dial onto the internet
3)   Go to my home page
4)   Check out the number of hits on my site

What a hypocrite I am!  My desire to share my love for Christ with others and my desire to overcome resistance to read the bible had been replaced with my desire to generate as many hits as possible.  It’s amazing how things in my life that start with the greatest of intentions can so quickly be turned into something entirely different.

The hit counters are gone; hopefully, never to return.  Yes, I can still track the number of hits my site generates (behind the scenes) and I will continue to look for ways to improve the presentation and content of the site.  But it’s high time I start practicing what I preach and fix my eyes on Jesus; not a meaningless hit counter.

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