Undue confidence in one’s intellectual, physical, material and financial acquisitions is a clear manifestation of the pride of life. Man is prone to boast of his achievements as if they were gotten by his power.
The human society is replete with vain and arrogant fellows who parade their so-called accomplishments contemptuously and want men to worship their exaggerated sense of self-worth.
“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” (Jeremiah 9:23).
These vaunted portraits irritate God. In our text, God told Prophet Jeremiah all that He was going to do against Israel because of their sin. Obviously, there were those in their midst who bragged about their achievements in life. JEREMIAH 9:12-26. But God told Jeremiah that they should only glory in the fact that they understood and knew God experientially. But they did not.
The almighty God hates swelling words, especially when He knows that man is nothing without Him.
This is a wake-up call for every believer today that no matter what we may have acquired or our societal, spiritual, academic or financial attainment, we must be humble in heart and in deed. We must not make a boast of such things as if we were better than any other person. If we do, we are liable to punishment from God.
A pompous disposition irks God; His mercy is for those who recognize the source of their blessings and accord respect to the Giver of such blessings.
When Satan asked Jesus, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down…”, he had wanted Jesus to demonstrate physically that He is the Son of God. But Jesus knew it was not Satan’s opinion about Him that matter but the view that the almighty God held about Him.
A sincere believer must not engage in unethical or sinful behaviors to prove his worth. It is the net worth approval of God that counts.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Without God, earthly acquisition is chaff.