Bible Lesson: Something to Boast About

Scripture: Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the Lord says: 
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord."
A deeper look at the passage shows us:

1. Common Perspectives-
  • People often boast and bank on what they know (wisdom).
  • They often boast and bank on what they can do ( strength).
  • They often boast and bank on what they have (riches).
[Man's life has been a constant pursuit of these 3 and by these they measure security and status in life. But all those will pass.]


2. Sure Eventualities-
  • We won't always remember all the information and skills we have acquired.
  • We won't always have the energy and physical condition to do and accomplish things.
  • Material possessions will face degradation or depletion.
[Knowing these eventualities should cause us to place our confidence and energy or efforts in something else. If not, we are headed to emptiness and nothingness. We will reach the end of our lives with nothing to show for and everything we would have been doing with our lives would be pointless.]


3. God's Directives-
  • That we have a full understanding of WHO HE IS
  • That we grasp that He EXERCISEs kindness
  • That we grasp that He exercises justice (fairness, morally upright) and righteousness (morally upright but slightly differs in that it pertains more specifically to what is virtuous, decent, worthy, upstanding) on earth
  • That HE is PLEASED with that which is kind, just, and righteous

4. Our Proper Responses-
  • To know Him (not just know "about" Him) on a deeper and personal level, to experience Him in our life
  • To remember that in all things God remains kind, though we may not understand His ways
  • To realize that God disapproves of unkindness
  • To remember that God executes justice and and righteousness in this world
  • To realize that justice and rightness will be upheld now or in God's time
  • To please God by pursuing what promotes kindness, justice, and righteousness
  • To never be party to actions that are unkind, unjust, and unrighteous
[Responding as such can cause us to boast in the right things. To know and understand God as He desires us to is something we can rightly yet humbly glory and celebrate about.]

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