Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Ambition, Identity
- Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive. When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus. But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.
- Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father. Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
Habakkuk
2 is often summarized by a single quote.
“The righteous will live by faith.”
This is a huge hint towards our identity. If we are in God, we will live in faith. If we are in God, we will be obedient to His
teaching. If we are in God, we will
desire to be righteous. We will live by
faith.
On the
other hand, Habakkuk spends a great deal of time talking about the Chaldeans in
this chapter. The list of grievances is
long. They are willing to deal evilly
with the people around them in order to prosper themselves. They are willing to spill blood just for the
sake of building their own towns, cities, and other things of importance. They are willing to get their neighbors drunk
in order to take advantage of them. They
deceive themselves by making idols out of their own creations.
In
contrast to the identity of righteousness we have the self-centered ambition of
the Chaldeans. I am convinced that Habakkuk
has put these in obvious juxtaposition. We
are to notice that the Chaldeans are going to come under judgment because they
choose to pursue their own ambition.
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