Genesis 11

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11‬:‭4

The keyword here is ourselves. The people say, let us build ourselves and let us make a name for ourselves. They have no reliance on God. Pride is placing self-importance above that of God and that of others. It is clear that the people here are full of themselves and are out to build on their own rather than to build for God. God had commanded the people to be fruitful and multiply and to spread across the Earth. They chose to build a city. The people chose to stay in one place rather than to spread across the Earth. Pride is warned against throughout the Bible because it is a fast track to be led away from God. When we build up treasures on Earth (through material, financial, personal, etc. wealth), we are being prideful. When we work to build up treasures in the kingdom of God, we are working for Him. We can desire the material, financial, personal, etc. wealth but we must consider the why? Do we want it for image or do we want it to help our mission of creating disciples?

God created us to live in His image for eternity. We live as if today could be the last day. A yolo mindset, if you will. We often don’t think about tomorrow, or 5 years from now, or 10 years from now, and we surely don’t think about eternity. Both believers and unbelievers will face judgment when Christ returns, and so if we are storing up our treasures in the kingdom of God, then we are living our lives preparing for the judgment day to come. This doesn’t mean that we will be perfect or have moments where pride slips in but it does mean that our focus is on pleasing God rather than pleasing ourselves. It means that we are looking to Him, living in His design, and making decisions that consider the impact for today, tomorrow, and eternity.

The tower I want to build is one in the kingdom of God. I feel called to more prayer about how I can begin.