By: Obed Pineda
A presumptuous person often oversteps boundaries, brazenly taking liberties that have not been allotted to him. This audacious and arrogant attitude is a byproduct of a false sense of security created by an assumption that person firmly holds to be true. Undeniably, presumption is a dangerous road to travel on since it typically ends with humiliation, self-destruction, or in some cases even death (i.e. Samson, Judges 13-16). Being presumptuous is not a character flaw that a person is born with; rather it is the corruption of a gift that has been abused. The seed of presumption is laid in a person’s heart when a talent they may have begins to inflate their ego. The opinion they formulate about themselves is exaggerated and an air of grandeur manifests. Holy Writ warns, “if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3, emphasis added). If this insidious infection progresses, that person now uses their gift selfishly, seeking adulation, admiration, and glorification. They use their talent hypocritically, calling attention to themselves so that they may be seen by all men. An example of this second stage is provided by the Lord Christ as He instructed His disciples in regards to prayer, “when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:5, emphasis added). If self-conceit continues to grow, the final and most devastating step is a false security that the abused and contaminated talent will still function properly. In His parable of the Rich Fool, the Master describes a man who was blessed with great wealth, but squandered away that blessing. After determining to expand his barns to garner even more wealth, this rich man presumes, “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry’” to which God responds, “‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21, emphasis added). Observe carefully how the illustration presented by our Lord verifies the deadliness of being presumptive. The rich fool of the parable had been given a blessing from heaven, he abused this gift by being greedy and wanting more, and finally arrived to the erred logic that he would live a long life to enjoy his wealth, presuming that God would continue to bless him in spite of his ingratitude toward Him. It is wise to note that at the beginning of this parable, the Son of God declares, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15, emphasis added). Indeed, the inspired blood brother of Jesus coincides with the validity of this counsel as he, too, decries “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16, emphasis added). Lamentably, a vast number in society are currently snared by this evil, inside and outside of the church. It is not difficult to fall prey to this ferocious predator since man is easily hypnotized by the routine of life. We become so accustomed to waking up everyday, for however many years we have been blessed with, that it is not uncommon to go to bed presuming we will wake up the following morning. This terrible, and arrogant assumption gives the devil an uncanny advantage he expertly exploits against man. When man loses sight of his mortality, and that life is a precious gift from our magnanimous Creator, Satan boasts that he knows how to divert man further away from God. In fact, the devil has presumed this ever since the dawn of time. When he beguiled Eve, he fooled her into eating the forbidden fruit by assuring her, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4, emphasis added). Satan astutely assessed that by removing the threat of death, man would be vulnerable and prone to fall into his deadly scheme. If Adam and Eve would have kept firmly in their minds the truth of God’s warning concerning the fragility of their life, the devil would not have been successful in his attack. The Bible proves this to be true through numerous examples of godly men and women who stood boldly against the devil, unafraid to die physically, and defeated him because this advantage was stripped away (i.e. Hebrews 11). One of the first champions who triumphantly silenced Satan by proving him wrong was a man whom James portrays as patience personified (James 5:10-11). Job is unequivocally one of the best to defeat Satan despite how dirty and cruel Satan’s tactics against him were. After having lost the first round, Satan would not accept defeat and verbalizes what he has always presumed about mankind: “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 2:4-5, emphasis added)! The assumption the devil makes, as declared by Holy Writ, illuminates just how confident he is that he knows man better than God. He questions God’s decision of placing His trust in man. The devil’s presumption is that when man’s life is in danger, he will quickly betray God because he is an unreliable, selfish creature. In other words, the devil assumes that man is incapable of self-sacrifice. For this reason, he was sure that by striking Job with a dreadful, cruel, and terribly painful disease he would succeed in provoking Job to curse God, but failed miserably (Job 2:7-10). Job silenced his greatest critic by demonstrating the true strength godliness and faith gives mankind. Although he was in terrible pain (physically and emotionally), Job’s resilience sprouted from his full trust and confidence in God. He was not afraid to die because he was sure that God would resurrect him from death and that because he held his godly integrity firm, He would redeem him from the accusations his adversaries were making against him (Job 19:25-26). With his story, Job verified that God does indeed know His creation perfectly, and that the devil, too, has fallen prey to his own presumption. He provides us with the formula that serves as an antidote that cures self-conceit. That formula, is unveiled by Christ as He invites man to “deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-26). Where the devil assumes that we are incapable of self-sacrifice, Jesus reveals it to be our greatest strength. Even though tomorrow is not guaranteed, everlasting life is. If we are willing to make the sacrifice in Christ.