https://odb.org/2026/02/09/how-the-proud-fall
Proverbs 18: 9-12 NIV – 9 One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. 12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
John Taylor was a British eye surgeon in the 1700s who, driven by arrogance, fabricated a prestigious reputation. He pursued celebrities and became the personal eye doctor for King George II. Taylor traveled the country performing medical shows that promised miracle cures, often escaping towns under the cover of night carrying bags overflowing with villagers’ cash. However, records suggest Taylor was a charlatan and likely blinded hundreds of patients. History remembers him not as a medical luminary but as the man who destroyed the eyesight of two of the century’s greatest composers: Bach and Händel. (Winn Collier, Our Daily Bread 9th February 2026).
One of the things recruiters look out for in a candidate’s resume is the frequency of job changes. An oft-repeated idiom to describe this is “a rolling stone gathers no moss”. It’s a double edged saying as it looked positive but is actually criticising someone who didn’t spend enough time at one place to gather sufficient skill and experience. People who can do this in real life are often those in sales as organisations are willing to hire sales people based on their perceived experience but when the results are not forthcoming (easily measurable), they are also easily terminated.
But a more dangerous trend at work is having the attitude not to learn something properly. There’s also a saying at the workplace for this – “fake it until you make it!” Often, people fall into this trap because they were proud and unwilling to learn. This is particularly so as we grow older in age. We don’t want to show those younger than us that we don’t know a certain thing. So we behave as though we know it. This is what happened to John Taylor. Probably happened at a time when medical science was at its infancy and still developing. But the consequences were tremendous, a charlatan that blinded hundreds.
In the spiritual world and in our relationship with God, the principle is that God hates the haughty. Instead, He loves the humble. That is why Jesus spoke that to enter the Kingdom of God, we need to be like children. Children will ask and learn when they don’t know. They are not afraid to reveal their inadequacies.
The message this morning is to be serious in learning new things even if we are already an old horse. Do not let our ego get in the way. I went back into doing legal work about 3 years back after leaving my past employer. My expertise in legal had always been M&A but my new environment was a cloud business in the IT world of professional services. Pretty new age stuff for someone in his 50s. But fortunately, I made the effort to pick it up. Now I can draft a contract from scratch for such transactions.
Have a good week ahead, everyone! Learn things properly. Do not let our ego get in the way. There is no need to fake things. Just spend time and we will eventually master it. Always remember, the Lord hates the proud. So be humble before Him and ask Him to help us learn new things even as we humble ourselves before men.
Ronnie's Thoughts 