by Markus Stepin @ free images.com.
We all have the thought, I don’t want to be that guy! You know, the guy who arrogantly boasts about all he has and all he has done. The guy who likes to show off his latest sports car telling you every detail of its spec sheet, while never sincerely asking you anything about your family or how your life has been going. The guy who after he leaves everyone talks about his “better-than-you” attitude. You don’t want to be ‘that’ guy who everyone gets it, but he just doesn’t seem to get how he comes off to others.
The Bible gives us some characters like that and the Holy Spirit basically says–don’t be that guy. One of these notorious characters is found in Acts 12, his name is Herod Agrippa 1. He is very similar to the guy I described earlier. He had it all from a worldly perspective. He was a king and thus was in control of most of the Jewish areas. He was actually very active in the Jewish faith, but it didn’t really show in all of his moral decisions.
We meet him in Acts 12 attacking two Apostles. He has James, the brother of John, put to death. Then he has Peter arrested and plans to put him to death. He is making God his enemy very quickly. But he goes over the top, when he accepts the praise of people calling him a god. He was giving an oration before a crowd, when the people started chanting “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” (Acts 12:22). He did not give glory to God, but accepted it for himself. The Lord had enough! An angel struck him and he was eaten with worms and died.
When you read the story of Herod, you really think, “I don’t want to be that guy.” A horrible fate of being eaten by words is certainly something to be feared, and it is a picture of what God thinks of an arrogant person. Conceit and vanity are repulsive in all forms, but when it comes to such a point where you seek to live without giving any glory to God, you are in serious danger. The lesson from Herod is simple–don’t be that guy who is arrogant, conceited, and living a life independent of God. Your friends and family will not want to be around you, and more frightening, you may bring on the judgment of God.
