The NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament is not a good place for the faint-hearted or over-confidant.
If you dare, ask a Duke or Missouri fan this morning how they are feeling. Both lost in big upsets to teams everyone was looking past. No one really expected Norfolk State and Lehigh to win.
Everyone presumed Missouri and Duke would win. I did!
Presumptuousness is risky business.
The prophet Obadiah wrote:
“Your presumptuous heart has deceived you. You think to yourself, ‘No one can bring me down to the ground!’” (1)
Presumptuousness leads to carelessness born out of arrogance and a sense of invulnerability. Even in the best of times, we are all vulnerable: “There is a temptation in every mercy; there is a snare in every joy!” (2)
The temptation in mercy is to underestimate your culpability, taking God’s grace for granted. The snare in joy is its fleeting nature, forgetting it too is a gift from God.
Perhaps this is why David prayed: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.” (3)
David was experienced with presumptuousness, pride, and arrogance. He once thought he was above it all. His sin of adultery and murder were born in his sense of imperiousness.
David was praised for having a heart for God. It is was his badge of honor, until one warm spring day when he went out onto his balcony. Bathsheba was the temptation and the cover-up the snare.
Guard your heart!
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Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2006; 2006), Obadiah 1:3.
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Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening : Daily Readings, Complete and unabridged; New modern edition. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006).
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The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Psalm 19:13.
Bread Crumbs - Devotions for Life 
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