February 21--[LATE--SORRY!]

Ephesians 1:12 gives the believer in Christ a remarkable bit of insight into God’s desire for those who call upon the name of His Holy Child Jesus. We know the Word affirms that God will not share His glory with another, but in this passage the believer is told that “We who have placed our hope in Christ are to live for the praise of His glory.”

That phenomenal truth should impact every aspect of our lives. It should remind us that indeed, we are not our own but we are His and because we’re the Lord’s, every action that we take, every word that we speak, every cause we espouse, every thought that we think should be worthy of Him. Why?

Because He wants to receive praise and glory through us. That cannot happen if our eyes are focused upon the things of the world. If all we see has dollar signs attached to it, if all we strive for has personal aggrandizement as its aim, if all we do is focused on fashioning a perfect ‘designer life’ for our own glory, we cannot but fail—even if we attain all we pursue.

But, if we tune ourselves in to His Holy Spirit, if we surrender our talents and our energy to the purposes to which He is calling us—and we will hear Him if we but listen with our spiritual ears—when we tally the scorecard of our lives, we will know we are winners! The laurels that have accrued at our feet may not be of the type the world esteems, but they will testify to the praise of His glory!