Meditations from Zion

Sometimes I hear people say they are doing this or that “for the glory of God” and I wonder, exactly, what does that mean? How can my puny acts glorify the King of the universe? Do I really have anything to offer?

I Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

As I considered this idea today, I decided it’s not so much that I’m doing one thing or another, but it’s all of me.

Some years ago, I got very interested in deaf ministry. I wanted learn American Sign Language and I wanted to learn how to sign worship songs. I studied for about two years and although I was never very good in basic conversations, I did learn a large body of songs. One of my favorite signs is “glory.” The arm is carried up and across the body and the fingers flutter like twinkling. And so, I think of the Glory of God, light that washes across the world.

As a believer, I have asked for the presence of Christ within me. This supernatural, mystical experience manifests in light–God’s Light. My transparency adds light to the glory. When I am in God’s will, when I am loving, when I am manifesting any and all of the fruits of the spirit, I am light as well. I am adding light to the glory light of God. I can be bright or I can be dim.

I dim the light when I go my own way, when I choose to act selfishly.

Let me say it again, more simply still. I am part of the light, by default, as a believer. Instead of thinking that I must do something for the glory of God this day, I need to realize that I am part of the glory of God. That is, until I choose unwisely or willfully sin or hurt another person. Then my light is shuttered like a theater lamp, the beam is narrowed.

For years, I have felt guilty that I wasn’t consciously saying, “This is for the glory of God” each time I started a project or left the house or taught a class or wrote an essay. It’s all for the glory.

And instead, I ask God to forgive me for the shallow times, for the shuttered times, for the sins.