What Are You Really Living For

Jeremiah 9:23-24 – “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’”

What if everything you have spent your life trying to achieve isn’t nearly as valuable as you think?

That is a sobering thought, isn’t it?

Our ways are not God’s ways. Neither are our thoughts like God’s thoughts. We naturally look at life from a human, earthly perspective. God sees it from an eternal one.

We think being wise is something to boast about. And wisdom certainly is valuable. Life can be much harder when you don’t have it!

We think being strong, mighty, powerful, or influential are things to be proud of. And there is nothing wrong with strength or influence. Those things can be tremendous blessings and enable us to accomplish a lot in our lives.

Then there are riches.

Riches are what most people spend their lives pursuing. We admire those who have achieved financial success. We often look at the wealthy and think, “They’ve made it.”

It’s the American Dream.

But God sees things differently.

In this passage, God specifically tells us not to boast in our wisdom, our might, or our riches. Those may be valuable in this life, but they are not what God considers our greatest treasure.

So what does God value?

What should we admire?

What should we pursue?

And if we are going to boast about something, what does God say we should boast about?

The answer is HIM. God says that understanding and knowing Him is the greatest treasure we could ever possess. Think about that!

Knowing God is more valuable than wisdom. More valuable than riches. More valuable than power. More valuable than anything this world can offer us.

From our fleshly, human, fallen perspective, that can be difficult to see. We understand the value of money. We understand the influence that power can bring. And most of us who have lived a few years clearly understand the value of wisdom.

But God sees our lives from a completely different point of view.

The older I get, the more I realize how easily we can spend our lives chasing things that simply don’t last. We can spend years trying to become wiser, stronger, wealthier, more successful, and more respected—and then discover that none of those things can satisfy the deepest longing of our souls.

Only God can do that.

When we listen to the Holy Spirit and allow God to express His heart through His Word, something begins to change inside us. We start setting our minds on “things above.”

As we “fix our eyes on Jesus,” and ask Him to give us ears to hear and hearts to understand, He begins to give us something we desperately need—the ability to see life through His eyes.

We begin to see our lives with an eternal perspective. And that changes everything.

It is then that we can begin to understand what Paul meant when he wrote:

“I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it garbage, so that I may gain Christ!” — Philippians 3:8

Paul had discovered something the world desperately needs to understand:

There is nothing this world can offer that compares with knowing Jesus Christ.

Maybe we need to stop and ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions:

What am I really living for?

What am I pursuing?

What am I proud of?

What would I be devastated to lose?

And perhaps the most important question:

If I gained everything this world has to offer but didn’t know God more deeply, would I really have gained anything?

Stop a second and Ask God to give you His perspective on your life. Ask Him to show you what really matters. Ask Him to reveal what you have been holding onto that may not be nearly as important as you thought.

And then ask Him to help you see what is truly valuable.

You may be surprised to discover that the greatest treasure isn’t something God can give you.

The greatest treasure is God Himself.

Take time to consider His steadfast love. Consider His incredible justice. Consider His amazing righteousness that He has manifested on the earth. The more you see Him for who He really is, the more you will understand why God delights in these things. And perhaps you will discover what Paul discovered:

Knowing Christ is worth more than everything else combined.

Now that’s a treasure that will last for eternity.