Original: October 22, 2007
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
A few years ago while I was talking to a retired Marine friend of mine about strength, conditioning and overall fitness I told him how excited I was that I could finally do three sets of 10 on the pull up bar.
He stared at me with humble eyes and struggled to ask, “Is that good?
I knew something was up so I affirmed that “for me” at 250 pounds plus, it was great and then I made the mistake of asking, “How many can you do?
“Oh, I usually do three sets of twenty or so was his truly humble response.” His words reminded me of a speaker I once heard say, “it takes a lot of humiliation to make a little bit of humility”, and after this conversation I knew I was well on my way up the road to humility!
Oh, did I tell you he was over fifty-five years old!
So my goal for the following summer was to be able to pull my body up 20 times over a pull up bar. I got my chance to prove it at Hume Lake for summer camp. It was 10:30 pm and all the guys were hanging out near the cabins after the final bell had rung. As we waited for the boys to show up someone decided to see how many pull ups they could do using the cabin’s awning beam as a pull up bar. Kids stepped up one at a time to make their attempt; three, six, four, nine, eleven, five, one. After watching several kids, and knowing it was now or never; I stepped up, adrenaline pumping, and was shocked to do 20 pull ups!
I won! I stuck out my chest and began to talk a little smack just as a Hume counselor ripped off 22 like it was nothing-another humility check!
To make matters worse I then read Jeremiah 9:23-24 and it slapped me in the face. I am an incredibly blessed man. I usually make wise choices (for the most part) and I don't know why. Something inherent has always (again, most of the time) led me in the wise direction.
I am rich. I live in the wealthiest country in the world. I have more than I need. I stand in the top 1% of wage earners in the world. I am strong. I am healthy. I am married to the love of my life, my beautiful wife of nearly two decades. I have three wonderfully gifted and healthy sons. I am rich (did I say that).
Should I be guilty about this? No. Are they things I should be arrogant about? No. My, our, only response to God's grace, sovereignty and blessings is thanksgiving. I am so thankful for God's blessings, gifts, and provisions in my life. I am truly a richly blessed man.
1 Corinthians 4:7-8 Reminds us that, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!”
The proper response when given special privilege or blessing is to brag about the One who is the giver of the gift and not the receiver thereof. I will not be ashamed or embarrassed by the blessing bestowed upon me by my King. Rather, I will boast about a God who chooses to uniquely bless those who know Him and call Him, “Father!” Not only are we invited to know the King of kings and Creator of the universe, but He lavishes His "loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these (He) delight(s)."
We serve a great King. We love an awesome God!
As a side note last night my oldest son James (17) told me he did twenty-six pull-ups in his weight class!
