The Westminster Shorter Catechism was completed in 1647. The first question is, "What is man's chief end?" The answer: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever." It is these two most important aspects of life I will be commenting on in this article and the one that follows. I say boldly, it is better to have never lived than to have lived and not to have fulfilled and experienced these two Divine requirements and privileges.
We are told in scripture to give God the glory due His name. I like the comment of one of our old Puritan brothers, "It's the yearly rent we pay to the crown of heaven." Many, I'm afraid, go through life rent-free! Is it not a shame that everything God created naturally gives Him the glory, except mankind? The heavens, the beasts of the field, all creation glorifies their Maker, but the worm known as Man. This one creature wants all the glory for himself.
God has given us, His saints, many things, but says, "My glory will I not give to another." Like king Pharaoh, after giving Joseph his ring and golden chain, and putting all things in his kingdom under him said, "Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." God has entrusted to us, His people, His Glory. We can go through life either gratifying our flesh or glorifying our God. Peter is a good example. He started out doing the former but finally and joyfully submitted to the latter, "To him be glory both now and for ever," were his last words.
Let each of us, from this day forward, be God-admirers! Let's make God look good. May we be so taken up with God, so awe struck by Him, the world will take notice. And let our testimony be that of Paul, "They glorified God in me." This should be a life-long commitment, even to death. This was true of both Peter and our Lord. Jesus told Peter before his death how he would glorify God in it. So the old faltering disciple glorified his God right up to the grave. And just before His death, Christ prayed to His Father, "I have glorified thee on earth."
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