All we do must be for the Glory of God: (John 7:14-24)

All we do must be for the Glory of God: (John 7:14-24)

In our life time we are going to do something that brings us some type of glory, whether it be graduating high school or finding a cure to cancer.  But what if I told you that when such things happen it is our duty as those who are Christians to give that glory to God, for it is not ours to keep.   If we are to follow the example of Christ we see that He always points all His miracles and teachings to God the Father.   Then in John chapter seven we see Christ talking to the crowd during the festival, He is explaining to them that He came from Heaven that He is not come there to bring honor to Himself but to God.  He says ““I’m not teaching my own ideas, but those of God who sent me.  Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.  Those who present their own ideas are looking for praise for themselves, but those who seek to honor the one who sent them are good and genuine.” (John 7:16-18)   What Christ is saying here is that anyone who is truly seeking out to please God understands that it is never about them, Christ Himself teaches only what God has taught Him.  We can easily see when someone is in it for just themselves.  The same rule applies for Christians. Are we truly seeking out God or do we just want to feel good about going to church and dressing up for the part?

It is not about tradition it is about a heart condition: (John 7:19-24)

Now Christ touches on a sensitive subject with the Jews. He reminds them that they do not obey all the laws for they (they being the Jewish leaders) want to kill to Him.  But they retreat back saying that he is possessed by a demon.  He quickly reminds them the healing at the pool of Bethesda which happened on the Sabbath.  Asking them if they were allowed to circumcise on the Sabbath in order to keep the law that Moses gave, then why is it a crime to heal the whole body?  We too can be just like the Jewish leadership we get stuck on traditions and forget even why they are there when asked why do we do this the answer comes back, it’s how we have always done it, we then push away others who don’t do it and we don’t even know why we do it.  Some even go as far as saying that one is not saved if they don’t do it, I remember sitting talking to a pastor who told me of an experience his brother had with an evangelist.  It was a hot summer day and they were having a tent meeting revival; two young women came and gave their lives to Christ that night.  His brother said isn’t that wonderful for two young people like those women get saved.  The evangelist said we’ll see if they really got saved tomorrow, if they come back with their hair up and in dresses down their ankles then we know that they are truly saved.   We cannot tell just by how someone dresses whether or not they are saved!  Paul tells us in Romans, “No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people.” (Romans 2:29)  Otherwise are we as followers of Christ allowing God to change our desires so instead of bringing praise to ourselves we are bring praise and honor to God?