For His Glory

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

John 17:9–10

How is Christ being glorified in you right now? This is the great purpose of our redemptive life, and the power of God is directed toward us in order to make this happen. So how is it happening in you?

Is it through your patient endurance of unpleasant circumstances? Is it through your joy in the midst of trials? Is it by the conquering faith in the final victory of Christ that has made you bold in your witness? Is it through a gentle spirit, that lifts others around you? Is it through dedication and sacrificial giving that rejoices for the privilege of making a difference for Christ? Is it through wisdom that He has given you through His Word? Is it by your steadfast resistance of temptation? Is it through the simple devotedness to Christ and His cause?

We often miss the great purpose of our lives and wish for more of this world’s goods. Amy Carmichael wrote, “We profess to be strangers and pilgrims, seeking after a country of our own, yet we settle down in the most un-stranger-like fashion, exactly as if we were quite at home and meant to stay as long as we could. I don’t wonder apostolic miracles have died. Apostolic living certainly has.”

But here the prayer of Christ keeps us focused on what is of eternal value to Him. He prayed for us that we might understand His eternal purpose for us. Christ prayed for the world elsewhere (Luke 23:34, for example), but not at this moment — He focused on His disciples. Why not pray for the world at the same moment? Why separate the two prayers? The emphasis here shows the difference between those who are in His family by faith and those who are not.

The world has its own measurements of significance and meaning — usually these are based on possessions, fame, and power — but it is all coming to nothing. The world and its desires are passing away (1 John 2:17). “He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are the planted … than he blows on them and they wither” (Isaiah 40:23–24). No matter what a person does, no matter how much of the world’s wealth he amasses, at death it is all meaningless.The currency that spends in eternity is the currency of faith, faith in Christ.

Our salvation means a change in our ownership — we now belong to God. He has bought us twice, once by creation and the second time by the shed blood of Christ. We now belong to Him and exist for His glory. Our hearts also do truly long to be useful to Him. No one has ever been born again that did not have some desire that their life would count for Christ. This desire is now part of our spiritual DNA. Today find some way that He has allowed you to bring glory to Him. Do it humbly, gratefully, but let God use you the way He intends to. Your life now is hidden in Christ and is to be lived for His glory.

The cost for serious fruit-bearing is our death to the world and its desires, but the dividends for such a payment are the hundred-fold of fruit bearing and the eternal joys of Christ (Matthew 13:8).