-The Rock Was Struck So the River Could Flow

Reading: Proverbs 16:18

The Pharisees in John 7 were so committed to their own assumptions that they were willing to contradict their own scriptures to maintain their position. When Nicodemus appealed to due process, they mocked him. When the officers reported what they had witnessed, the Pharisees dismissed them. They cursed the crowd rather than engage the evidence.

Isaiah chapter 9 had clearly prophesied that the Messiah's ministry would begin in Galilee, the very region they despised. But pride had blinded them to their own Bible.

Proverbs 16:18 warns that pride goes before destruction.

Religious pride is especially dangerous because it disguises itself as devotion while hardening the heart against truth.

Reflection: Are there any assumptions about how God works that may be preventing you from recognizing what he is doing right now?

Practical Application: Ask a trusted fellow believer to speak honestly with you about any area of spiritual pride they may have observed in your life. Receive their words with humility and bring them before God in prayer.