I was reading John 17 when the word “glorified” struck me. Jesus says it here:

I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. (NASB) John 17:4

The word “glory” has to do with value, worth, character and nobility. Jesus demonstrated and made known the value and worth of God by obeying him, and said we also can do so:

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing….My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so  prove to be My disciples….If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (NASB) John 15:5, 8, 10

I had to include a few verses to point this out: We can demonstrate and make known the value of God! Does that strike you as amazing? If it does not, then I think you should look for this in the Bible. One of the most important things for any Christian to understand is just how magnificently glorious our Heavenly Father is. Having this knowledge will be a humbling experience, and humility is the first step toward bearing much fruit and bringing God glory (Matt 5:3).

Once we are struck by the incredible value of God, it should be an amazing thing to realize we can connect directly to that glory, we can manifest it and demonstrate it and make it known in this life!

I desperately want to connect with the glory of God. What could be more magnificent? What could be more valuable? Is there anything more meaningful that I could do? I think not. And these verses tell me exactly how to do this: obey God. However, we cannot obey commands that we do not know, which points to what I have already mentioned, that the first step is studying the Bible.

I feel intimately connected to God when I study his Word, but I have never felt intimately connected to my Savior after hearing a sermon or reading a great book about him. Never! The experience of directly studying the Bible is entirely different for me. I have often heard many excuses for not reading the Bible, but nothing replaces it because Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, 14).

When we read a book about Jesus, we are disciples of the writer. When we listen to a sermon, we are disciples of the preacher. But every great teacher will always point us to Jesus, who is the source of anything good they have to say or write. Paul did this:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (NIV) 1 Cor 11:1

I admire my pastor and his teaching, I think very highly of it and respect how much time and effort he has put into knowing Christ, following him, and helping others to know him. However, the true value of this is how he points us to the Word and to our personal responsibility to study it and do what it says.

My Savior has tremendous value to me, more than anything else. If this is a true statement, it will show in my life. It will be reflected in how I choose to sit with him in the morning, studying his Word, considering who he is and how to be like him, then choosing to live that way. This is being a Christian, a disciple of Christ. This is how I manifest the glory of God.

Blessings! – Shamar Covenant