[Jesus] said to [Peter] the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to Him, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This He said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) (John 21:17-19)I don't know about you, but the phrase "to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God" did not occur to me on my own listing of "What are ways we glorify God?" "How I die" isn't one that springs to mind. It was in Jesus's mind.
We don't tend to think that way. I remember one skeptic quizzing me about the deaths of a pastor and his son in an auto accident in our state. How was that a good thing? He was quite sure that it was not -- could not be. Jesus understood that in all we do we are to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31), even in dying. Paul wrote, "You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (1 Cor 6:20) Peter wrote, "If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." (1 Peter 4:16).
So, how will you glorify God today? In worship? In doing works to His glory? In making disciples? In reflecting Christ? Or maybe in suffering? Or dying? Because, remember, we are to glorify God in everything.
3 comments:
Is it possible that Glorifing God is not so much wrapped up in what we do, but rather it is more about what God does in us, to Glorify Himself. 'HE' leads me in the paths of Righteousness, for "HIS" namesake.
Certainly all that God does is to His glory, but we are commanded to "glorify God", so there must be something that involves us, too.
It's one of those paradoxes. It's all about God. Right! Except that right after being told we're saved apart from works so we can't boast Paul says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10) Oh, so it is good works that we need to do. So it's about us. We are told, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil 2:12) We work. Except that he follows that with, "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil 2:13) It's one of those "both/and" things. He gets all the glory. He works in us to give us the will and power to work. And we work. Oh, and He rewards us for it, rewards which, in the end, we give to Him. It can get confusing.
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