Daily Devotional for October 21, 2015
Jeremiah 9
Scripture:
23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
Observation:
In my garage is a box full of trophies I have collected over the years. For some reason I cannot bring myself to get rid of them. Something about that box makes me feel good; it makes me feel accomplished. In fact, it gives me a sense of personal pride.
Guys are naturally like this. We like to look back and marvel over our accomplishments. It may be a fish that we caught or a deer that we shot; it may be a trophy we won or a project we completed. Have you ever visited with a guy who just finished building something? Whatever it is, we like to talk about it.
Bragging doesn’t feel like an activity we should be participating in. This passage reminds us not to brag about wisdom, riches, or strength. However, it does give us permission to brag. It says we can brag about our God as much as we want! We can shout from the rooftops how good our God is, that He knows us and understands us. We can declare as loud and as often as we want that our God exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness. I take a lot of pride in that. Why? Because my God is awesome, that’s why! I plan to continue bragging about the nature of God and His goodness.
Application:
- Personal Application: Don’t be ashamed of the Lord. Take pride in how incredible our God is. This is better to brag about than trophies or accomplishments.
- Family Devotional: Read this passage to your family. Take turns bragging about how good God is. Have some fun and don’t be afraid to laugh and enjoy the goodness of God. Have each person take a turn thanking God for His goodness.
Prayer:
- Personal Prayer Focus: Ask God to remind you—daily—of His goodness, to help you diminish the importance of earthly accomplishment and increase the importance of knowing Him.
- Family Prayer Focus: Pray that God will guard the hearts of your family from personal pride.
Three-Year Reading Plan for Sunday, October 18 – Sunday, October 25:
- Sunday, October 18: Jeremiah 6
- Monday, October 19: Jeremiah 7
- Tuesday, October 20: Jeremiah 8
- Wednesday, October 21: Jeremiah 9
- Thursday, October 22: Jeremiah 10
- Friday, October 23: Jeremiah 11
- Saturday, October 24: Jeremiah 12
- Sunday, October 25: Jeremiah 13
—TOM GROOT is National Director of Men’s Ministry and Christian Education. Connect with Tom on Facebook or Twitter @TomGrootJr.
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