Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Jensen Holt McNair.

If someone told you today that five years

from now you wouldn't be following Jesus anymore, what do you think would be the thing that

pulled you away? Maybe you've been asked that question before, maybe you haven't.

If not, it's a challenging but also super helpful question to wrestle with.

I've been asked this question a few times it seems to be a favorite of my

pastors and I get why. This question makes me come face to face with the

cynical doubting stubborn parts of my heart and pull them out into the light. And to be honest, every

time I think hard on this question, I come up with the same answer. My pride

would have gotten in the way. I think I'm pretty great and because of that I tend to rely on myself, be overconfident and coast through my walk with Jesus. And it's really tempting to see this tendency in myself and think well it's not that big of a deal.

Honestly I'm in good company. Everywhere I look people are telling me to focus on myself, to put me first.

I'm bombarded with quotes about how great I am, how special I am, how worthy and wonderful

and enough I am, every time I turn on my phone.

I hear inspirational speakers tell me that God is all love,

that he wants me to be happy,

that old school Christians want to make me feel guilty about everything but

God doesn't really care about my sin he loves me just as I am and all that

noise is so close to the truth, that it makes me comfortable and confident

in myself while never acknowledging the sin quietly taking root in my heart. Pastor and author Tim Keller wrote,

Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin.

It silently and slowly kills you without you even knowing.

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