Worthy of Praise

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WORTHY OF PRAISE

John 12:42-43

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

NIV

We just saw many who would not believe in him although he had done so many miracles, and we saw how that was fulfilling the words of Isaiah, but now we are seeing that at the same time many did believe in him. Of course there is a catch here. Among those who believed were some of the leaders of Israel. We are not sure exactly what kind of leadership position these people held, but it was not spiritual leadership as the original word implies differently. These could have been magistrates, or some other form of governing leadership, but nevertheless they hide their belief in fear of the Pharisees. The root of their hidden faith was because they loved the praise of men more than praise from God. There is the lesson for us today. We must examine our heart and see if we enjoy praise from men, yes more than praise from God. What would that look like, to want praise from men over God? If we do our good deeds before men, even under the pretense of showing them the love of God, if we are not explaining to them the gospel message, or the fact we are doing this because God loves them, are we just wanting them to think how good we are, yes even as a church. If we just do, and do not say anything about God to them, then are we not just like any other humanitarian effect accepting their praise for our effects? Just because we do things and even in the name of the church that does mean people know we believe in Jesus, that we believe they need to be born again if they are going to be saved. Many churches do not teach nor believe in the born again experience, they are just religious. If the reason for our good deeds bring them to our church, does our church share the Gospel message or does it just perform religious acts before men, so to receive their praise, rather than from God.  If we believe we should not hide our belief, so we are praised by men for our deeds, as a church or personally. If we want other believers to think we are such “Good Christians” then are we looking for their praise? If we are involved in some ministry of the church because we think it is the thing to do and we want others to know that we are involved, are we looking for their praise rather than from God? Yes, if we believe, if we love our Lord, we will do, we will serve somehow, we will confess our belief to everyone we know, we will because we desire the praise from God. If people thank us, we must always remember to confess it is not us but God who they must thank. It is God who does the work, for us, in us and through us. We are who we are because of God. God and God alone is worthy of praise.