How much do you have to achieve so you have something to boast about, something that will make you more important? Achievement can be a fickle companion for just how much is enough? Not surprisingly, God has a different standard:
The context is the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple following the Captivity; Zerubbabel is the governor who had the civil responsibility alongside Joshua the high priest with the spiritual responsibility to fulfill the charge of reconstruction. While the work is physical work, God sends word to the Governor that neither might nor power will see completion of the task but that it was rooted in the work of the Spirit of God moving the people, enabling the people, sustaining the people.
Back to today’s passage: it is not smarts, it is not might, it is not even riches that are praiseworthy no matter how much we may seek or covet or accumulate but the true measure of value is in relationship with the Lᴏʀᴅ:
That seems right and proper… after all, why not go for something of lasting value, something even eternal, yes, the Lᴏʀᴅ! Isn’t Understanding and Knowing the Lᴏʀᴅ better than, even foundational to all else. There is nothing wrong with wisdom or might or even riches but they all are limited when seen in the light of who God is. He is consistent, enduring, just, right and He delights in what agrees with His values and glorifies Him rather than self.
Where is your boast and does the Lᴏʀᴅ agree?