He [Herod] put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. At its conclusion the people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness so that he was filled with maggots and died—because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. [Acts 12:21b-23 (TLB)]
Our voices, our service, and our abilities are to be employed, primarily, for the glory of God. [Billy Graham]
When it comes to compliments, it’s not only more blessed to give than receive, but often far easier. Praise is a beautiful gift of encouragement and, like any gift, it should be acknowledged with thanks. But what then? None of us want to end the way Herod Agrippa did when he failed to give the glory to God! God is the source of everything that is good in our lives and He has blessed each of us with an array of aptitudes and gifts that enable us to do His work and bring Him glory. While we may put forth a great deal of effort to develop them, our talents, skills, insight, and achievements are not ours alone; they come from the grace of God. It is only right to acknowledge his greatness and give Him the honor and praise. So, when we receive praise, how do we give God the glory that is His?
While I occasionally see, “To God be the glory!” at the end of an actor’s biography in a theater program, I’m not sure it works so well in conversation. Responding to a compliment with, “To God be the glory!” is a Christianese phrase that could be off-putting, especially to non-believers. It might even seem a little boastful—as if God gifted me but not you or my God-given gift is better than yours. Yet, not acknowledging God in our response to sincere praise means we’ve wasted a valuable opportunity to share the gospel. After thanking someone for their encouragement, how do we use their words as an opportunity to celebrate all that God has done in and through us? Of course, I’m going on the assumption that whatever we’ve done that earned the compliment we truly did to glorify God.
While saying “To God be the glory!” may seem a bit flippant or trite, other responses might work better. We could say something like: “I’m thankful to God that you liked my work,” or “I’m happy to be able to use God’s gifts this way,” or “Anything praiseworthy in me is really Him,” or even, “God’s blessed me with a beautiful gift and I hope to use it wisely.” Whatever we say, our response should be humble, sincere and heartfelt. Let’s always remember to give credit where credit is due! To God be the glory!
To God be the glory, great things He hath done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
[Fanny Crosby (1875)]
One of the hymns at our Easter Eve service was Christ is Alive and we sang, “In every insult, rift and war, where color, scorn or wealth divide, Christ suffers still, yet loves the more, and lives, where even hope has died.” I thought of how hate must be like another nail in His hands and intolerance another scourging on His skin. The text of the hymn was written by Brian Wren in April of 1968, just two weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. “I could not let Easter go by without speaking of this tragic event which was on all our minds, “ he explained. “The hymn tries to see God’s love winning over tragedy and suffering in the world.”
Last Thursday night’s Bible study had been as inspiring as Easter Sunday’s sermon. As we walked out of the building, I confided to my friend that there was no way I could follow such brilliant preaching. You see, our pastor was taking a much needed vacation and I would be doing the preaching for the next two Sundays. Afraid I couldn’t possibly fill his shoes or touch people’s hearts the way he does, I asked, “How can I possibly compare to him?” My friend wisely answered, “You don’t!” He reminded me to be myself and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
There’s a therapeutic riding center across the highway from one of the churches we attend. Along with horses, barn cat, and dog, they have a rooster. No matter what the time of day we’re there, that rooster crows. Every time I hear that bird’s loud “cock-a-doodle-do!” I remember Jesus’s words to Peter and ask myself, “Have I denied my Lord today?”
When I was a little girl, I once went to mass with my Roman Catholic cousins. Before leaving for church, my mother pressed two shiny quarters into my hand. “For the offering,” she reminded me. Part way through the service, long-handled offering baskets were extended down each row and people dropped their offering envelopes and money into them. “Who will know?” I thought as I reached into my pocket and pulled out just one quarter for the offering. Almost immediately, another basket came down our row. “God saw me!” I thought in a panic. “God knows I was holding out on Him and now the priest has sent the basket back.” I quickly reached into my pocket for the second quarter. As I dropped it into the basket, I heaved a great sigh of relief; I was safe from Hell for at least one more day. My only consolation was that I clearly wasn’t the only sinner; other people had dropped money into that second basket. Looking back, I think the second basket probably was for a special offering of some kind. To my child’s mind, however, that second basket was for those of us who hadn’t given God what belonged to Him.
Some things never change and, aside from death, it’s said that taxes are the only other sure thing in our lives. Along with a poll (or head) tax, the Romans had a variety of other taxes including customs taxes, property taxes, import and export taxes, crop taxes, toll bridges, sales tax, and special taxes when there was a war or building project to finance. Sounds a bit like nowadays! Yesterday was April 15, the day the IRS demanded what is theirs. When you put “the” and “IRS” together you get the word “theirs” and, once we’ve filed our taxes, it sure feels like the government considers most of what’s ours to be theirs!
Devotions of the Heart 