Boast

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

BOAST

1 Cor 1:26-31

26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.   31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."  

NIV

On a very personal note I remember when I was saved, it seemed as though most of us were considered people from the wrong side of the tracks. That does not seem to be the case as much in the church which I am familiar with today. The pews are full of lawyers, doctors, business men, teachers, and other fine clothed people of well managed portfolios.  However, we do need to see ourselves as we truly are. If we all compare ourselves to the real wealthy, the real intelligence of the world, those who are considered to be scholars and those of noble birth, we are not wise by their standards; we are the lowly and the weak. Who of us has any great influence on society, such as the people who are extremely wealthy like George Soros, or even Donald Trump, or politicians like Mitt Romney or Barak Obama? Who of us has had the influence of men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg on our modern society? No, we are who we are, people of common birth, people of a lowly status in the world we live in. We do not reside in the fame of fortune of Hollywood, although we hear of some of them giving testimony of their faith in God. Yet with all the wisdom, all the knowledge, all the wealth, the fame and the power, the influence, they profess their own self-made image. They do not acknowledge God nor do they worship Him. God has called us, the lowly to him, although He certainly desires for them to accept Him as well, He does not want any to perish. But here we are the church, the people of God, those of us who are circumcised of the heart, true Israel, who have nothing to boast about. In the grand scheme of this world we are the little people, with no real value other than to serve as pawns of those who influence this world for their personal gain. So what do we have to boast about, at least in this world? The answer is absolutely nothing, we are of no greatness. Yet we do have someone to boast about. We have a Lord who is our righteousness, we have a Lord who is our holiness, and we have a Lord who is our redemption. We can boast about Christ.