You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased. [Revelation 4:11 (NLT)]
The words Soli Deo gloria, meaning “glory to God alone,” were the words at the end of the actor’s bio in the show’s playbill. The addition of those three words in his brief resume was the actor’s way of acknowledging the source of his talent and dedicating his work to God’s glory. I thought of those words when someone flattered me recently. While I knew “Glory to God alone,” was not the right response, I wasn’t sure what was.
John Stott said, “Flattery is like cigarette smoke. It does you no harm if you don’t inhale.” While we all take pleasure in compliments and praise, we must be careful not to let them inflate our egos. When appropriate, we should publicly acknowledge God’s part in our success but I’m pretty sure responses like “I’ve been blessed by God,” or “All glory to God!” to favorable remarks about our appearance, attire, possessions or achievements might do little to further His kingdom. Yet, stopping at a polite “thank you” seems to leave the Giver of all Gifts out of things entirely. How do we keep from inhaling that flattery?
Perhaps, after accepting a compliment with thanks, we should hand the praise off to God in silent prayer much as we hope our waiter does to the chef after we’ve complimented a delicious meal. Like a waiter, we just dish up what’s been given to us by the Creator of All Good Things. If our waiter accepts the praise but doesn’t pass along our compliments to the kitchen, he’s done the chef a disservice and in danger of thinking he’s the one responsible for the gourmet meal. If we fail to hand off the praise we’ve received to the one who gave us our gifts, we do God a disservice. We’re at risk of allowing flattery to make us think we’re the ones who should get the glory. Keeping that praise to ourselves makes us bigger and God smaller when it definitely should be the other way around.
Heavenly Father, thank you for all the beautiful things you’ve cooked up for us in your heavenly kitchen. As we share them with the people around us, let us never forget that we are just the servers or channels for your many blessings; we neither made them nor are they ours to keep. Soli Deo gloria—glory to God alone!
An interview with God would appear to be a journalist’s dream opportunity! As I started thinking of questions, I realized I wouldn’t want to know the answers for many. I don’t want to know when or how I’ll die and I certainly wouldn’t want to be privy to that information about anyone else. I wouldn’t want to know exactly what will become of friends who don’t believe or who will go where at judgment. A friend said he might ask how he was doing but, fully aware of his failings, realized he probably wouldn’t want to hear God’s answer. Some friends in Chicago might want to ask Him about the Cubs but, unless they were gamblers, knowing the answer would be a season spoiler. There is much that God could tell me that I wouldn’t want to know because I could never live with the weight of His answers.
Since Jews are prohibited from possessing any food products containing leavening (chametz) during Passover, a Muslim Arab-Israeli man in Abu Ghosh now owns most of the bread, pastries and beer in Israel. As they have for many years, Israel’s two chief rabbis sold all of the leaven food from state-owned companies, the prison system, and the national emergency stores to him. He symbolically purchased the chametz for the duration of Passover by making a small down payment. Having promised to pay an enormous sum at the end of Passover, at week’s end he will tell the rabbis that he can’t pay up, the deal will be canceled, his down payment returned, and Israel again will own its yeast-laden products. Here in the U.S., some Jewish families “sell” their chametz to non-Jewish friends and then put the food in an out-of-the way cupboard. Technically, while still on their property, it’s not really theirs because they’ve “leased” the cupboard to the Gentile buyer. After Passover, the lease expires and the food is sold back to its original owner. While this may circumvent the law, I’m not sure it’s what God had in mind when He commanded, “There must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.” [Exodus 13:7]
“I’ve never seen eye to eye with Mary since we were neighbors,” said the woman harshly. Her statement begged us to ask, “Why?” The woman beside her, however, refused the invitation with the comment, “Well, we can’t get along with everyone!” and promptly changed the subject. Gossip was avoided that time but it’s not always so easy; the line between conversation and gossip is a fuzzy one at best.
Devotions of the Heart 