"Boast: to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride"

When I tell people I’m going to Hawaii for a month the typical reaction is something like this: “Wow, I’m so jealous!” or “You’re so lucky to be going to Hawaii…I’ve always wanted to go there.” I would probably say the same thing if someone I knew had this same opportunity. It is tempting to be prideful and think I’m lucky because while other people are going on missions trips to third world countries and places with no power or running water I’m going to sleep on beautiful beaches and learn to surf in rolling waves. Granted, this is not the typical missions trip. I’ve been on those…to the mountains of Jamaica where kids had AIDS, to the coast of Costa Rica where they had never heard the Gospel, to persecuted Christians in Honduras, and up to the high mountains of Guatemala where it was so hot this 90+ degree weather in Lynchburg is nothing in comparison. I’ve been to those places and I have enjoyed those experiences. God used me and stretched me and I am so different because of those trips. But Hawaii? People vacation there, the natives have heard the Gospel. It’s hard to raise support and get people to join your cause when you’re going to such a place. But I think it’s because I’ve been going about it all wrong. I’ve been boasting about Hawaii instead of the One who is sending me there.

Jeremiah 9:23&24

“This is what the LORD says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me- that I am the LORD, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the LORD’s declaration.”

So here I am, sharing with you that I have been sinful in boasting that I am going to Hawaii. There is only one thing I am ever entitled to boast about, and that is my God. I am boasting in the fact that I know Him! He is LORD and He shows His faithful love to me every day- wow. Even as I type this I am amazed at how true this is. Maybe you didn’t read that right…the God of the universe, He shows Himself to me. I hope that is true for you too. Are you looking for Him? He is there! I have seen His justice and His righteousness: that is worth boasting about!! May I cease to boast about the opportunities He gives me and boast in Him alone.

A line in one of my favorite songs (How Deep the Father’s Love For Us) goes like this: "I will not boast in anything; no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ; His death and resurrection." May this be so true of me as I continue to take on this task He has prepared for me…