"If it looks too good to be true,
it probably is." I've often used that statement regarding
advertisements that I've seen. Dig a little deeper and you find there's a
catch, a trick up someone's sleeve. Paul made a similar argument to the
Corinthians as referred to "super-apostles" who were leading them
away from the Gospel.
Exactly who these
"super-apostles" were we don't know. From what Paul goes on to
talk about it sounds like they were Jewish people who were very righteous in
their outward behavior, but had lost the understanding that they were forgiven
sinners, or they taught that it wasn't enough to believe in Jesus, you also had
to obey certain laws of the Old Testament.
Paul
was a Pharisee by training, and he had lived a life where his outward behavior
was impeccable. He decided to go toe-to-toe with these guys and lays out
his pedigree. He said right up front that he was being foolish, and
bombastically proclaimed, "Okay, if you want to play that game, I can
play. . . and win." So he laid out his experiences suffering for the
Gospel.
What
do we boast about? When we play the comparison game with others how do we
"win"?
Each
of us has something in us that wants to be loved, wants to be glorious, and
we'll do all kinds of things to be noticed, appreciated, and praised. It
is said that we spending lots of money to buy things we don’t need to impress
people that we don't like. How stupid is that? But we crave the
attention. The irony is that in Christ, we already have all those things -
love, glory, appreciation, praise. We have them from our Father in
Heaven, and they're eternal.
Paul
puts a bee in our ear when he says, "If I must boast, I will boast of the
things that show my weakness." Oh, that buzz is uncomfortable! But Paul
understood that he was not sufficient before God. Paul stands right alongside
us and says, "Jesus is my only hope." He is the one in Whom we
boas and have our confidence.
Lord Jesus, help me boast of You and make
Your glorious salvation known wherever I can!
Amen.
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