(2 Ti 3:2) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
As I continue with this devotional series, I literally shudder at the relevance of these scriptures for a time such as this! My heart aches and wants to explode with desire to reach those who are lost and Christians who are misguided! Lord, I pray that You would draw those who need these scriptures so they can be alerted to just how late it is in Your prophetic clock! In Christ’s precious name I pray!
Today’s alert is the word “boasters.” I love Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary because it defines exactly what the English word meant at the time the King James Bible was printed! His definition is below. Because the definition needs expanding, I’ve also included the definitions for “vaunt” and “ostentatious”:
BOASTER, n. One who boasts, glories or vaunts ostentatiously.
V’AUNT, v.i. [L. vanus. This ought to be written vant.]
To boast; to make a vain display of one’s own worth, attainments or decorations; to talk with vain ostentation; to brag.
Pride – prompts a man to vaunt and overvalue what he is.
OSTENTA’TIOUS, a. Making a display from vanity; boastful; fond of presenting one’s endowments or works to others in an advantageous light.
Your modesty is so far from being ostentatious of the good you do –Showy; gaudy; intended for vain display; as ostentatious ornaments.
Now that you’ve read through these, does it open the meaning of boaster to you? With the invention of the internet and social media, we see people boasting so much more than before. In the past, we were limited to newspapers and boasters were really not something to write about, unless they were politicians. But today, we are truly in the “I” generation. Everything is about me, me, me! Narcissistic people are everywhere. They are obsessed with their own image, their own progress, and they have an exaggerated idea of their own importance. What once was prevalent in politicians and the pharasitical attitudes of church leaders, is now running rampant in the human heart. Is it any wonder that Christ said:
(Luk 18:8) I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
The believer is held to a higher standard than the world. We should not be caught up in the “I” generation’s belief system. We should not be boasters. In fact, Scripture says:
(Pro 27:2) Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
Social media is filled with apps that record one’s actions and words. You don’t have to watch them for long until you see people boasting about themselves. It’s really not something I would have thought of when I first was saved in 1980. Of course, social media was just starting and it wasn’t used for this purpose. Perhaps that is why I see today’s word so clearly.
If you are a believer who is guilty of this, I pray that this post will speak to your heart. As Prov. 27:2 says above, it’s not up to us to praise ourselves. Let it come from someone else and then be humble about it.
If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Jump to Day 5.
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