Those Who Cannot Enjoy Even the Grace They Have Received

Uzziah became king at sixteen and feared God. He won his battles and made the nation great and strong. But as his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, he slowly began to change, and came to regard his success as the fruit of his own wisdom and strategy. In the end he went into the temple to burn incense himself, an offering only the priests could make. Azariah the priest pleaded earnestly with him, but he would not listen.

Pride does not arrive in a single moment. Wealth and power that can be seen, and the praise of others, gradually cloud a heart that once gave thanks to God. Refusing to heed the priest shows that the heart has already passed over to Satan. Uzziah was struck with leprosy on his forehead as judgment. He was shut away in a separate house until the day he died, unable to enjoy a king’s authority, and was not laid in the royal tomb.

However great the grace someone has received, if they forget to give thanks and grow proud, they cannot enjoy it and it is taken from them. God did not cast Uzziah aside from the beginning; it was his own choice that damaged the relationship. Those who treat the grace they have received as a debt and live in thankfulness remain God’s people to the end.