Jeremiah 7-9

August 14

Jeremiah 7-9

"The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?" (Jeremiah 8:9, NIV)

There is no real wisdom apart from the wisdom of God. We can think we are wise. We can be at the top of our class in school. We can be the smartest person in our workplace, but without the word of God our wisdom is really foolishness. Real wisdom comes from God. We do not have to be smart to be wide.

 "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, 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." (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NIV) Everything we have; all our gifts, all our strengths, all our riches are gifts that come from God.

 Paul understood this when he adapted Jeremiah’s words and wrote; "But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”" (2 Corinthians 10:17, NIV) Then to the Galatians he wrote; "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14, NIV) Paul realized that he strengths were gifts from God including wisdom. He also realized that the message of the cross was wisdom to those who accepted Jesus, but foolishness to those who rejected Him. " For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV)

People did not change over years between Jeremiah’s writing to Jerusalem and Paul’s letters to the churches. People are still the same. We rely on our own power our own abilities, we take the gifts God has given us and use them for self glorification, when true strength, true power, true, riches, true wisdom come as a gift from God. It is nothing we deserve so the proper response is to use our gifts for His glory.