What to Do with Glory

One word I hear frequently spoken and sung at Christmas is the word “glory.” Among other places, it comes from John 1:14. After describing the origin of Jesus the scripture states, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father . . .” Later Jesus prayed that those whom the Father had given to Him might “behold My glory (John 17:24). Like with many subjects, we speak and sing that which sounds good but has little meaning to us. Why do we behold the glory of Jesus? I don’t think it is because He needs it. If you owned the cattle on a thousand hills, the earth and the fullness thereof, would you need glory? Maybe we speak and sing glory to Jesus because He is the only one who knows what to do with glory when it comes His way. I certainly don’t know how to handle glory when it comes my way, do you? Mostly, I just get the “big head” when someone tries to glorify me with earthly praises. While He doesn’t need it, Jesus receives glory and encourages us to glorify Him even more. If Jesus doesn’t need glory and yet encourages us to glorify Him, the benefit must be for us. Now there’s a glorious Christmas thought.