1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Several places in his letters Paul breaks his narrative to pour out a doxology, a declaration of praise to God. Here, he has just been talking about what a lost cause he was before Christ met him on the road to Damascus, and he is overwhelmed by the magnificence of God’s grace. How often do we take time to think of how incredible it is that God would accept, much less choose, us as one of His children? If we would do so in all honesty, then praise would well up from within us no less than it did from Paul. Indeed, no human being is worthy in themselves of being accepted and acknowledged by God, but He does it anyway, for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith. The better we understand our own unworthiness, the more we will praise and love Him! This is the polar opposite of entitlement, which is why the devil works so hard to foster an entitlement mentality in as many people as possible. When we understand how hopeless we are without Christ and how secure we are in Him, we can’t help but be overwhelmed with gratitude, which will produce a level of peace and joy the world knows nothing about. The devil can’t stand that, so the more grateful and joyous we are, the more effectively we are resisting him!

I was thankfully raised to be grateful, and our home environment was certainly one of love for God, but I didn’t learn much about active praise to God until I was introduced to the Charismatic Movement in 1973. These days that style of music has become common, but sadly, many Christians and churches have adopted the style without adopting the heart attitude that generated it. Performance isn’t praise. I was blessed with musical ability, and I am certainly to give my best to God, but if I am more worried about my performance than I am about the One to whom I am singing, then it is worthless. If my life isn’t a praise to God, then what I do in church is going to be hollow. Teaching and leading others to praise God is a joy indeed, but it must come from a heart that realizes how totally unworthy I am for the task. I am to praise God that He enables me to exercise the privilege of doing that, just as Paul does in the verse just ahead of this. God is more than worthy of all the praise in the universe!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed overflow with praise to You, regardless of what is going on around me. We had reports of two tragedies here in Japan just yesterday, but that in no way diminishes the praise that You are due. Help me put everything into context, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be established as Your will is done, by me and by everyone, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!