day no. 15,939: against the ceiling and against the floor

Douglas Wilson, commenting on Blaise Paschal's Pensées points out that,

"Mankind has two problems: pride and lust. Pride repels us from heaven and lust binds us to the earth."

Our pride keeps us from receiving Heaven's condescension and our lusts keep us busy trying to mine happiness from the earth. We lift ourselves up which is why we can't reach Heaven and we dig ourselves in deep which is why we don't look up. We cannot reach Heaven on tippy toe and cannot find buried treasure, regardless of how deep we dig the well. 

Pride pushes against the ceiling and lust pushes itself against the floor.

We have a default of resisting that which is above and being drawn to that which is below. We don’t like the sound of wisdom revealed from above and we love the tune of wisdom bubbling up from below. 

Pride makes the divine repulsive and lust makes the demonic alluring. 

James 3:13-18
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

That which comes from above, if received, is planted in us and draws up out of us faithful fruit that leads to righteousness. That which is from below, already at work in us, is rooting us down to the ground.

Pride throws shade at the light and lust throws a spotlight on the shady.

Lust is the sin of being magnetically drawn to baser things. Pride is the sin of being allergic to the things above. Salvation is a new heart which now longs for things above and rejects those things below. Sanctification is mortifying the flesh that's left and vivifying the spirit provided by God. We must die to our lusts and pride and live to God's joy and faith in resurrection.

Colossians 3:1-10
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.