Being Boastful about Right Things

^"23Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV)


I've been reading through Jeremiah as part of my chronological journey through the Bible this year.  Jeremiah is such a timely book for the days in which we live.  I read this passage again just the other day and have been marinating on it.


We are such a people who boast about what we have accomplished.  God nails us in verse 23.  We boast about our wisdom and knowledge.  We boast about our strengths.  We boast about our wealth.  There is nothing wrong with any of these things, so long as they are not the object of our attention.  We must realize that God alone is the one who has enabled us to accomplish, succeed, grow, profit and excel.  This is why verse 24 is so important.  Our boast as a Christ follower is in our knowledge of Christ as Savior/Redeemer and Lord.  It is God who has enabled us, gifted us, saved us and positioned us for greatness according to His will.  Our boast is in God alone.  We are to boast in our knowledge and understanding of God.  It is not that we just know God but that God knows us.  It is not just that we understand God but that He understands us.  We are to boast in the greatness of our God.  He is a god who practices a steadfast, enduring and everlasting love for all of mankind.  He is a God who practices justice.  He is a God who is perfectly righteous.  As God is, so He creates us to be.  We, as His disciples, are in the process of reformation.  We must allow God to reform us into His original intent for our lives.  At the very end of verse 24 we read that God delights in these things.  


If we are only calling attention to ourselves, our church, our ministry or our denomination, we have missed it.  None of those thing exist apart from God.  Because God is God and I am not, He alone is worthy of my praise.


How will you boast in the Lord today?

The Freedom of Forgiveness

I had the opportunity this week to see forgiveness at work. I guess I actually saw the aftermath of forgiveness. I had gone to visit a man in the hospital who had been very sick. He was doing much better. God has been doing some pretty amazing things in his life both physically and spiritually. On the day that I visited him, forgiveness had come to him. That day, his sister, whom he had not spoken to in eight years, came to visit him in the hospital. He recounted the story for me. His wife was pushing him down the hall in a wheelchair when he saw his sister down the hall. He knew it was her. He called out her name and she turned to look. Through tears in his eyes and a cracking voice he told me that they had been reconciled that day. What an amazing story. He said that pride had taken root in his heart and grown into bitterness that kept him and his sister separated all of these years. He said it had been so hard for him to say he was sorry, but on this day, the words came easy. On that day, this man's life was drastically changed. He is a believer but on that day he became a follower of Jesus. Why? Because he had now given the forgiveness that Jesus had given him so many years before. The one thing that he said to me that had the deepest impact on me was that he said that he now felt free. He said he felt as if a great burden had been lifted from him. He felt as if he were going to make it. He said that he felt truly alive. This has been a long time in coming for sure. There is freedom in forgiveness. It is so hard for us to give because we allow pride to prevail. When pride goes unchecked in a conflict, it gives way to bitterness, which plants its roots deep in our souls and causes us to refuse to forgive. We have now become slaves to pride at this point. It becomes more about winning and being right that actually doing what is right. I don't think that forgiveness can truly be given until we have truly experienced forgiveness. Where there is freedom there is forgiveness. Forgiveness is only found in Christ. In this Christmas season, we discover the greatest gift that can be given is that of forgiveness. That is why the Christ-child came, was to bring God's forgiveness to man. If you have not accepted this forgiveness yet, I encourage you to do so. But just as we have received that forgiveness we are to give that same forgiveness to others. Maybe the best gift you can give someone this Christmas is to set them free and forgive them. Peace.