"Let Him Who Boasts..."

Scripture Passage

Jeremiah 8:4-11:23

(Interesting MLK Quote, I thought)

Scripture Focus

But those who wish to boast
     should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD.
                                         (Jeremiah 9:24 NLT)

Observation

What a remarkable passage today, huh? Even birds know when it’s time to return (migrate), but God’s people don’t have the sense to return to Him (8:7)! Stop reading the stars for your future (10:1) and fearing false gods (10:5)! And what about God’s words to Jeremiah—“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress” (11:14). Can you imagine a situation so severe that God says “stop praying”?

But the kingpin passage has to be Jeremiah 9:23-24…

This is what the LORD says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
     or the powerful boast in their power,
     or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
     should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD
     who demonstrates unfailing love
     and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
     I, the LORD, have spoken!
                                (Jeremiah 9:23-24 NLT)

There’s the thing to boast in! Of course, when your “boast” is that you “know God”…that you understand that Jehovah is “the Lord”…then your boast is in Him and who He is, and not at all about who you are…not at all about what powers, wealth, or wisdom you might possess. (Paul says something similar in 2 Corinthians 10:17—“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”)

And the boast is to include celebrating specific ways in which God’s actions reveal His character—that He “demonstrates unfailing love,” “brings justice and righteousness to the earth,” *and* that He “delight[s] in these things.” I take that to say that He delights not just that He does these things, but that He delights when His people do these things—He delights to see unfailing love extended and justice and righteousness expressed through those who belong to Him.

The question for today, then, becomes “How can I demonstrate God’s unfailing love and express His justice and righteousness?”

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