Sharing In His Glory

This morning I felt like reading Paul's second letter to Thessalonia - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NIV:

[11] "With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. [12] We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

I like these verses for a couple of reasons. First, its interesting to note who is doing the majority of work in the first sentence. God is making us worthy of His calling, and applying His power to our lives, to help us fulfill our desire for goodness, and make our deeds fruitful. Our activity is desiring to be good, and acting in faith. He is bringing the power to enable us to bear lasting fruit and has already made us worthy by Jesus' Body and Blood. This is good news, as He is doing the things we can't do on our own. Second, there is a glorification resulting from God's work in us, Jesus being glorified in us, and us in Him, because of Him, and through Him. It is all because of Jesus, but we get to participate in the Glory!

Going back to the story of the prodigal son I was reading yesterday, one of the things the older son didn't understand was this principle of sharing in the Glory of the Father (the celebration of goodness and access to the Father's treasures of food and wine, etc.). He thought by slaving away in obedience and hard work he would earn some little bit of recognition that he could share with his friends. The Father in love corrected him and said "‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours." Luke 15:31. Its not because of our hard work or obedience, or anything else that we receive good things from God, but simply because we are in relationship with Him. That doesn't mean we don't serve the Lord, or work, or obey His word, but its out of thankfulness for what He has already given us, rather than to get something we want. The heart motivations are completely different.

Lord, I pray that Your power, You may bring to fruition all my desires for goodness and make my deeds, done in faith, bear fruit that lasts. Help me to understand Your desire to share Your abundance and Glory with me, because You love me.