A Day to Give God the Glory!

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Scripture

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
(Acts 12:23 NASB)

 

Observation


This simple little verse tells us the end of Herod's life. He wanted to believe that he was more powerful than God and he wanted to take the credit for the things he had accomplished. God had enough, and Herod dies an ugly death.

 

Application


Today is a special day in my life and I want to give God the glory! In just a couple of hours I will head to the famous Whitworth Hall at the University of Manchester where I have the privilege of participating in the graduation ceremonies, officially receiving my Ph.D. The journey here has been very long and arduous, and to be quite honest, I don't have the personal skill or ability to have completed this degree. However, I do believe that "with God all things are possible!"

It has been a six year journey that has brought me to this day. Actually, it's many, many more years than that but we'll just think about this last leg. The reason I have to give God the glory today is that the way God has shaped me and formed me in the last six years as a result of my study has been beyond anything I would have ever imagined. People used to ask me why I was doing this and what I was going to do with it when I was finished. Even at that point I didn't really have an answer because it's always been more about the journey than about the destination.

I have been blessed with the chance to have an intense study of holiness and to get to know two families from the fourth century who struggled with what it meant to live the holy life. Sometimes they were successful and sometimes they weren't, but they taught me about perseverance, about the journey, about giving praise to God, and about the fact that when I unite myself with an infinite God the journey will never, ever come to an end.

Today is just a marker along the road of the journey that leads into an ever more intimate relationship with God. Today I get to celebrate, but it's not about me -- it's all about him! I give God the praise and the thanks and the glory!

 

Prayer


Lord, thank you! Amen.

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