“It’s Not What You Know…”
October 14, 2011
“It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know.” This popular saying transcends business deals. Interpersonal connections are often the key to success in the entertainment industry, in the sports arena, and sometimes even on the playground. With every imaginable piece of information available at our googling fingertips, we now live in an age that places great value on WHAT and WHO we know. So what should we know? Who should we know? How much trivia should fill our heads and how many facebook friends should we have?
As we have been studying the names of God, each week we come back to one foundational verse found in Jeremiah 9:23-24.
“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of him might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”
How fascinating that these words written thousands of years ago are so timely this very day. God knew the allure of wisdom, might, and riches would never disappear from our lives. With His forward glance to us living here in the 21st century (He’s El Roi – He sees!) He understood our identity could easily wrapped up in college degrees, the strength of our bodies (which He made as Elohim – Creator God), and our bank accounts.
God knew how easily swayed we would be by our own God given talents and abilities. Living in our own strength, relying on our own intelligence and wisdom, being assured that we can buy our way out of any problem is a recipe for less dependence on the Glory of His name and more dependence on ourselves. It’s also a recipe for disaster or as Proverbs puts it, “a prideful fall.”
Because we are made in God’s image, we are skilled and capable but only in His strength are we able to live out the plan He has for us. This verse states plainly that we can KNOW God who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. Notice the contrasts given in Jeremiah.
We boast in our own wisdom but God’s love encompasses the ultimate knowledge toward us. We boast in our own strength but God is the ultimate Judge. We boast in our riches but nothing on earth can compare to His Righteousness. Knowing God brings us into a full and rich knowledge of His Covenant love, His mercy driven Justice, and His unparalleled Righteousness. What else do we need to know?
Can you boast that you KNOW Him?
It’s not what you know… It’s WHO you know.
“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give my glory to another.” Isaiah 42:8