We need to recognize our self-serving.

1Ki 21:20  And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

1Ki 21:21  Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

1Ki 21:22  And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

1Ki 21:23  And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

1Ki 21:24  Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

1Ki 21:25  But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

1Ki 21:26  And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

1Ki 21:27  And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

1Ki 21:28  And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

1Ki 21:29  Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Working evil.

To work evil is to work contrary to the love of God- which is loving Him and loving Others.  So many live simply to serve self. In the above passage Ahab a king of Israel desired a vineyard that someone else owned. He told the man to give it to him in exchange for money or another vineyard, but the man refused him and this upset the king who wanted it for a garden because it was next to his palace.  Telling all this to his wife, the wife decided that through deceit, false accusation, and murder of the vineyard owner that her husband the king would have this vineyard.

All this was the work of EVIL. All this was the work of self- serving. Some might argue that the wife of the king was serving her king when she arranged the evil, but she was serving self not Him. By giving her husband something he desired she hoped to please him and in pleasing him she would heap accolades upon herself- the end of her evil was self-serving.

After all that evil unfolded (and so much more evil over the course of their lives), a prophet of God revealed to the king and his wife that PUNISHMENT would befall them for their evil. 

What did the king do upon hearing his fate from the prophet of God?

He rent his clothes, he put on sackcloth, he fasted, and he lay down in sackcloth and went softly. 

The king HUMBLED himself before God.

The king knew he was evil and didn't try to talk himself out of the punishment he so justly deserved. He didn't make excuses for his evil. He didn't continue in the evil. He HUMBLED himself.  He denied himself the luxuries of his position. He was a king with all the amenities of a king. He had the best clothes, the best food, the softest beds, and the authority to be as commanding as he desired ordering all those around him to do his bidding.  Instead of embracing all the things so readily available to him, he gave them up. He didn't wear his kingly robes, he didn't eat of his bounty, he didn't tout his authority- but rather he humbled himself before GOD be such self-denial.

Are we to humble ourselves before God?

Ahab the king humbled himself and for this God gave him more time, his punishment was not instantaneous, he was given a stay.  He would receive his pronounced punishment but not just then.  By humbling himself in TRUTH and SINCERITY, because any falsehood in his humbling would have been known of God, Ahab altered God's judgement upon him as  to WHEN the judgement would take place.  And WHO among us would not consider that a blessing, to receive a temporary stay of execution, no matter how truly the execution is deserved?

We are told by our SAVIOR-

Mat_18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat_23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We are told by the HOLY SPIRIT-

Jas_4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Jas_4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1Pe_5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble

1Pe_5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time

Ahab humbled himself by DENYING himself, why do we imagine we don't need to deny ourselves anything? Why do we believe we deserve all we can get through work, gifts, or in any way and these things are our rights to exploit as we please? We tell ourselves it's crazy to deny ourselves things available to us.  We tell ourselves God would NOT want us to deny ourselves anything and we BELIEVE ourselves. We excuse away any reason for self-sacrifice, and we even tell ourselves we don't know how to humble ourselves. We don't comprehend how we are in modern times to array ourselves in sackcloth, to fast, to go softly. And truthfully, maybe we need to deny ourselves MODERN things.  To exalt ourselves in our THINGS, our possessions, to turn our heart only to ourselves is not humbling ourselves. 

Do we truly know any longer what self-denial is?  Do we imagine it is denying ourselves luxuries because we have to use our money for something that isn't a luxury? Do we believe it is not buying ourselves something we want and can afford?  Do we believe it is passing up a dessert? Do we believe when we allow another driver to move ahead of us, letting them out into traffic that we are humbling ourselves?

I'm NOT saying some of those things are NOT humbling ourselves because they can be. We need life changing humbling and by the grace of God He will teach us how we are to do this in our modern lives. We have to do this - we are told to HUMBLE OURSELVES, we are told Ahab humbled himself. We have to choose to be humble in a real way because any false humbling is known of God to be anything but humbling.

When we think that our life's pursuit is our OWN happiness, our OWN desires, our OWN self-serving, we have lost sight of GOD and God's love!  Yet in our world today this is exactly what we believe from our childhood on up, some might say from birth to the grave and they wouldn't be far off because sin will reign in all of us- self-serving will reign in all of us if we do not humble ourselves before God and seek forgiveness, repenting, and turning to God and God's ways.  Recognizing our self-serving in all its insidious ways and choosing to humble ourselves rather than serve self, this is what we need.  We can only hope and pray that we are able to sincerely humble ourselves and be used in God's service rather than our own.

All by the grace and mercy of our Savior may this be so.

In the name of our SAVIOR, Jesus Christ our Lord, now and FOREVER! Amen.