“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”
All of us glory in something, and what we glory in will help us decide how we are going to live. We have in our text a word from God about what we should glory in. Notice the words “Thus saith the Lord…” This means that Jeremiah had a word straight from God, and because he was a prophet of God, he had to share what God told him. Let’s notice what we are not to glory in, what we should glory in and why we should glory in the Lord. Jeremiah was led to point out three areas of life that we are not to glory in. In considering these things, it seemed to me that they take in a lot of what we falsely glory in. He wrote: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” Why not? The reason is because the greatest wisdom of human beings is far inferior to the wisdom of God. Every person is ignorant about more things than he or she is knowledgeable about. Even the most brilliant of us do not know everything as God does. He also wrote: “Let not the mighty man glory in his might.” There are a lot of strong people, but their strength in no way measures up to God’s strength. God is, after all, all-powerful, and no human being can equal that. A lot of people have tried to be all-powerful but they always end up powerless and eventually dead. Again, Jeremiah wrote: “Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” The Bible does not tell us not to have riches, but it does tell us not to let riches, or material things, rule our lives. The point here is that we need to be careful to depend on God’s wisdom, strength and wealth to rule in our lives and to primarily glory in Him. Think today about what you are glorying in and if you are glorying in that more than in God, then you need to change that. Next, Jeremiah wrote for us:“But let him that glories glory in this, that he (or she) understands and knows me, that I am the Lord….” The Bible does not tell us to choose ignorance over wisdom. In fact the whole book of Proverbs is about the advantage of being wise– with God’s wisdom. It never tells us to choose weakness over strength. It just reminds us that our strength ultimately comes from the Lord and we forget it at our peril. The Bible does not tell us to seek poverty, but it does tell us not to forget the true source of whatever wealth we have. What we are to ultimately glory in is that we understand that God is God and that He is in control, and we bow to Him in all wisdom, might and wealth. What we are to glory in is that we know God. The whole Bible introduces us to God – His power, His majesty, His wealth, His glory. If we are to live the kind of life that we should live, we will bow to God’s sovereignty and let Him be our wisdom, might and wealth. Jesus Christ came to earth, died a sacrificial death and ascended to the Father in order for us to be able to know God in a meaningful and intimate way. We are never told in the Bible not to seek the best life possible; rather, we are told to seek God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and allow Him to reign in all areas of our lives. We are to trust Him, obey Him and live our lives in His will. Finally, we are told why we should trust in and glory in the Lord: “That I am the Lord which exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Our lives will be better if we submit to the Lord of life, who loves us, judges us and gives us His righteousness. The Lord delights in this kind of submission to Him. Ask yourself today if you are glorying in the Lord instead of yourself and your things. God knows that if we submit to Him, we will be better people, our lives will be more fulfilling and our eternity will be glorious. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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