Let not the Wise Man Glory in His Wisdom

Jeremiah 9:23 ¶ Thus says the LORD:

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

Let not the mighty man glory in his might,

Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 

Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this,

That he understands and knows Me,

That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight,” says the LORD. 

This passage is one of my all time favorites, and it is a perfect summary of our mission statement as participators in the Bible Bee. We are not supposed to be in this to be able to impress everyone with our incredible amount of Bible knowledge, ability to memorize, or even our ability to study through critical thinking and analyzing to rightly divide the word of truth by the end of the summer.

Not that we always study during this season with the true purpose in mind. We have been brought up to love learning, love information, and love knowledge for their own sakes. This is very helpful, because for us learning is already a way of life that we enjoy, so we don't have to work against the prejudice of thinking that learning is a pain and avoiding it whenever possible. But when it comes to Jeremiah 9, we do tend to glory in the wisdom that we are accumulating itself rather than the objective of that wisdom. Wisdom is very important to pursue

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

but having the wisdom is not the only end to getting it. The reason to get wisdom is found here in Jeremiah 9:24: to understand and know God, that He is the LORD, exercising lovingkindness judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these He delights. 

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One  is understanding.