“Give Glory To God”

Thursday, July 04, 2019

   Paul the apostle wielded legitimate miraculous power. He told a man who was crippled from birth to stand up and “At that, the man jumped up and began to walk” (Acts 14:10). What would become of a man who could do that today? Who could just speak healing into existence? “You who were blind from birth – see!” And then the blind person looks around in amazement as she sees for the first time. Can you even imagine?

   In our modern would I imagine there would be an enormous amount of skepticism at first. But as the stories added up and doubts faded could you imagine how famous the healer would become? How wealthy he could become if that’s what he wanted? There’s no doubt that at least some would believe this healer is just a little more than human. But be sure of this – if this healer accepts this praise and all this attention for himself, if he uses his ability to benefit himself by gaining riches and power, then he is no man of God.

   Of course we know that no such healer exists today (even though some make the claim). There are, however, gifted speakers. There are talented businessmen, skilled athletes, people who are good at making money. All kinds of abilities exist that people use to direct the attention to themselves, to gain wealth and honor at every opportunity. But I want you to notice that Paul didn’t do that. The man who could do something more remarkable than any ability we see today refused to be praised. He wanted all the praise to go to God. After healing the cripple the crowd wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods. I’m sure that would be tempting for some – but they wanted none of it. “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ‘Men, why are you doing this?’” (Acts 14:14-15).

   If those who could do miracles wanted all the praise to go to God, who are we to seek praise for ourselves? I don’t care what you can do – you can’t heal a guy who was crippled from birth. “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor” (Proverbs 25:27). Let’s take a page from Paul’s book. Give the credit to God. Give the praise to God. No matter what you do or what you can do be sure to direct attention away from yourself and toward the One who can do everything. That’s the honorable thing to do. That’s what true men and women of God have always done.

written by: Doug Wells

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