Glory? Who's Glory?

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." - Romans 1:21-23

" 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.' " - Isaiah 55:8-11

"Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham and awesome things by the Red Sea." - Psalm 106:20-22

"Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, and so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; and He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness." - Psalm 106:43-45

Well, hopefully these few verses have helped in the understanding of the history from which Paul pulls this concept of "Professing to be wise, they became fools..." Do not suppose, though, that this behavior is limited to the Old Testament. No, we are still professing wisdom, today, and are, all the while, becoming more and more foolish in our thinking. The "wisdom" of the world is called foolishness in the Scriptures... we see it many times.

The "wisdom" of the Israelites often got them into more trouble than it was worth! Wouldn't you agree? That perhaps if they had just followed the commands of God... they might have all made it into the Promised land of God a whole lot earlier? Am I crazy in assuming that God could have kept His promise to bring them into the land the first time they arrived? But God does keep His promises. He promised blessings for those who would be obedient, and a curse upon those who would turn away and seek their own ways... If you don't believe me, just read Leviticus (chapter 26) and Deuteronomy (chapter 28)!

So, here we see Paul dealing with those who have turned away... They began to follow after idols. He lists a few different things here, but I think one of the more interesting, and probably more applicable, things that he deals with is an image in the form of corruptible man! Isn't that weird? No! It's absolutely true! We idolize those around us... we make a person our ultimate standard of what is good and right and true.

We try to obtain Truth, capital "T", in the places where Truth isn't found. Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. If Jesus Christ is Truth.... then, when we try to find fulfillment and truth in places other than the Scriptures and our relationship with Him.... we're failing ourselves and our Savior. We are rendering ourselves completely ineffective for His kingdom when we chase after the corruptible, as our number one goal in life.

So, what should we be chasing after? What do the Scriptures say that a follower of Christ should chase after? Well... Jesus said that we should pursue the souls of everyone around us. And when we run out of souls to pursue around us.... we relocate and pursue more souls in other places. We are told to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." (Matt. 28:19)

In the New Testament we see several other commands as well:

To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30)

To have love above all other gifts of the faith. (1 Cor. 13)

To have humility. (1 Peter 5:5)

To have joy in times of trial. (James 1:2-4)

There are more, but this list should give us a little bit of insight into what God requires of those who would call themselves by His Name. We are not called to be consumers, but rather to be servants... Just as Christ said that He did not come to be served, but rather to serve. (Matt. 20:26-28) Can we even begin to understand this concept? Not of our own accord and on our own merit, but through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the humbleness (through grace) which He gives us, we can become the fully devoted servant whom God will use mightily for His name's sake! Can I get a "hallelujah!"? Have you ever noticed that the ones who seem to love and understand the things of God the most are those who serve Him without expecting praise or anything else in return? I think there is some good reasoning behind this...

So, all of this to say... "Chase hard after God, and do not turn to the left, nor to the right. But rather let us continue on in the faith and work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! For there is nothing greater on this earth that we could possibly be a part of!"

Don't profess wisdom... profess Christ! That's all the wisdom we need!

Don't exchange the glory of God for the glory of man... there is no lasting value in glorifying yourself. Only the glory of God is everlasting! Only the glory of God is worthy of our mentioning. Boasting of our own efforts is like bragging about the shack we built next to the Empire State building. Let's take it one step further... It's like boasting about the Empire State building while we stare at Mount Everest. There is a Builder and Creator Who is infinitely greater than we are. Nothing is worth mentioning unless it points back to, or reflects, His greatness.

Be a mirror of Christ. Be a reflection of His light in a darkened world, where men are professing wisdom while spouting follies by the minute! Don't follow the crowd in exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for corruptible things. Store up your treasures where they are really going to matter the most! (Matt. 6)

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .