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 Cost of Worship

"I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing."  2 Samuel 24:24

As read this verse this morning, a question popped into my mind -- What is my worship costing me?  That question was quickly followed by another one -- What sacrifices am I bringing to God?  David did not want his worship to be without cost, sacrifice or meaning.  He was vested in his worship to God.  It has been my experience that when we have something vested in our worship it becomes meaningful.  We have missed this.  I have missed this.  Worship has become too comfortable.  It has no meaning because it does not cost us anything.  There is no sacrifice involved in our worship.  Some would say that it does cost time, but what is time?  For the average Christian, worship has become what they do on a Sunday morning.  It is not a part of their daily life.  What has happen is we have relegated worship to a compartment in our life.  Worship goes alongside the God compartment and the church compartment.  It is another part of our life but it is not our life.  When we do this, we suck the life out of worship and quench the Holy Spirit.  Because we are unwilling to give all of ourselves to God through worship, we suffer in our intimacy with our Savior.  We have reduce worship to a feeling or a style as opposed to a response to the movement of the Holy Spirit.