"To The Glory Of God"
I Corinthians 10:31
If you are serious about the glory of God,
if you really want to do all things "to the glory of God," you do not
have to guess about how to do so. God tells us how to do so by the pen of
Solomon in Proverbs 3:1-12).
1. OUR LIVES MUST BE RULED BY THE WORD OF
GOD (vv. 1-2). The word that Solomon uses for law comes from a root word which
means "to instruct", or "to direct". It refers not to the
letter of the law but to the teaching of the law, the teaching of the Word of
God. As the ark of God was the keeping place of God's law, so our hearts must
keep the gospel of Christ. A godly life begins with the doctrine of Christ
being laid up in the heart. Thus we obtain eternal life.
2. WE MUST IMITATE THE CHARACTER OF GOD IN
OUR LIVES (vv. 3-4). We do not obtain God's mercy by being merciful, but any
who have God's mercy, any who have experienced his grace are transformed into
the image of God and bear in their lives the stamp of his character. God's people
are merciful, gracious, and true (Eph.
3. WE MUST TRUST THE LORD OUR GOD IN ALL
THE AFFAIRS OF OUR LIVES (vv. 5-6). We must lean upon him entirely. There is no
other way to please and honor him (Heb. 11:5-6). Any limit to this confidence
in God is a heinously evil thing. Unbelief is the most ignominious thing in the
life of a believer (Psa. 78:18-23).
4. WE MUST CAREFULLY AVOID SELF-CONFIDENCE
AND SEEK TO LIVE IN THE FEAR OF GOD (vv. 7-8). The fear of God and the fear of
sin always go hand in hand. Where God is honored, sin is hated. Our souls are
healthy and strong only when we "fear the Lord and depart from evil".
5. WE MUST USE WHAT WE POSSESS FOR THE
HONOR OF GOD (vv. 9-10). To the religious hypocrite, this is a demanding
sacrifice and hard duty. To the believer it is a great privilege to lay aside a
portion of his substance with this sacred stamp upon it - "This is for
God" (I Cor. 16:2).
6. WE MUST SUBMIT TO OUR FATHER'S
CHASTENING ROD (vv. 11-12). Divine chastisements are gracious in design and in
execution. Therefore, we must never despise them or faint because of them. We
must learn from the afflictions of providence and be content with our Father's
discipline.
Don Fortner