"But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him." (II Samuel 14: 25). In modern terms, Absalom was a ladies' man because of his looks and because of his stature in his community as the son of the King. And Absalom knew of his looks, his athleticism, his charm, and people followed him as if he was the king when he had no kingdom.
Absalom's pride was exemplied in his head of hair, which weighed two hundred shekels according to the king's weight, which was a little more than five pounds. Thus he was proud of his hair.
There came a day, however, while Absalom was riding a mule through a forest, his hair caught on a tree limb, pulling Absalom from the mule and he was suspended in the air, unable to free himself from the snare. This enabled his enemies to come upon him and to kill him while he hung in the tree, and thus the revolt against King David came to an end: and so did the life of Absalom come to and end.
All of us are just like Absalom: prideful. And in our pride we revolt against God and believe that we can go to heaven because we think heaven is where we should go after death, and, like Absalom, it doesn't matter that God is on the throne in heaven. God, however, says that we are sinners and that we need to confess to Him that we are sinners as well as to receive Christ as our Saviour because it was Christ who died for our sins.
Because of our pride, we find the idea of sin to be revolting as well; and, like Absalom, we like to believe that others think highly of us when we walk by. Look at me, look at my wonderful education, look at my great career, look at me as a good-deed-doer in my community, look at my house and all of my possessions, and also look at me in my religion, doing all the right things, and surely, when people think about sinners, they are not talking about me.
The example of Absalom's pride was his hair. What is the example of your own pride? What is there that you hang on to and believe about yourself more than anything else?
To know Christ in salvation, you must be willing to abandon everything you think of yourself in order to trust in Him to forgive you for your sins. If there is something you cling to, then you are not humble, and still proud, and you will not confess to God that you are a sinner, and, therefore, you are not saved. That one thought you have about yourself will keep you from knowing God.
For many to most people, that one item that keeps them from knowing Christ is twofold: (1) people judge themselves to be good enough to go to heaven by their own self-righteousness, or (2) they see themselves justified by their religion. But as stated earlier and many times, all religions are created by men and not by God; for if you cling to your religion to go to heaven, your faith is therefore in the words of men and not according to the Word of God.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through me.
So the question for you to answer is this: are you going to die with your faith in the words of men, or are you going to die with your faith in Christ?
Or, will you be like Absalom, and die by your hair: for your own hair is that something that you will cling to: something within yourself that you will not let go. What is it? When you die, however, you will let go of it, for you will take nothing with you when you die, not even those good thoughts you have about yourself.
God wants you to be in heaven with Him, but you must be willing to let go: and let God be God. There is no other way.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Amen.
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