The Glory of God

I have been reading “Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places” this summer along with several other people from the chapel and from camp. The book is full of challenges. While reflecting on my reading of the book, I wrote the following journal entry;

Christ is not easy to follow. He promises life to the full, but it is not an extension of more of the things I want and admire. Full life is not in any way for my glory. but just the opposite. In order for the life and glory of God to increase in my life, I must become less. I must be willing to abandon myself, my glory and my lusts and ego, and follow Christ in death. This is difficult. Without faith in Christ, the son of God, it is impossible.

I have been challenged lately to realized that following Jesus is not glamorous or sucessful. That thought doesn’t sit comfortably for me. My humanity has a natural aversion to suffering. I want as much success as possible. A quick quote from the book that caught my attention;

The life of Jesus is not a happy story, not a success story. What it is… is a salvation story.

I am learning more and more that following God means denying self. No matter how moral or compassionate or virtuous self may be at times, we must lose our lives to find them. Another quote that caught my attention is;

The glory with which Jesus was glorified and the glory for which Jesus prayed for us is quite different from the kinds of glory that we are conditioned to want and admire. This glory is not conspicuous. It is not glamorous. It is not the glory that gets featured in glossy magazines or travel posters. It is not a glory noticed by fashion editors. It is not a glory that flatters our lusts and egos.

It is our natural tendency to use God for our own glory. But God’s glory is entirely other than our own. Time after time our behavior is deserving of Jesus words, “Get behind me Satan”, when we try to make Jesus about our own agendas and our own success instead of God’s.

~ by Josiah on May 31, 2008.