Iranaeus, a second-century bishop, once said that "The glory of God is a human being fully alive." As someone raised in the church, I find this a very interesting concept. To me, glory has always had some sort of mystical connotation; we give God the glory, we laud His glory, we pray that His name be glorified....but we never really define what it IS. At least, I didn't.
But we were created so that our lives would glorify Him. And, because of that, life itself should be able to do just that. I think about the people in my life who are fully alive. Their vivacity, their zest for life, their care for others and love for God nearly takes my breath away. And now I start to understand what Saint Iranaeus meant.
There are so many people who let life slip by them while they stand on the sidelines, watching. In his classic book Walden, Henry David Thoreau said that "the mass of men lead lived of quiet desperation." God has given so much to us - so much to enjoy, to experience, to do. But most of us don't even recognize it. That is why it is so encouraging, exciting, glorifying when we see someone squeezing every drop out of life that he can.
It is such a rare thing, but God meant it to be the norm. So often we let fear of the unknown or avoidance of the difficult keep us from enjoying God's best for us, keep us from truly living. So my question today is this: am I fully alive today? Are you? Are our lives glorifying to God?
But we were created so that our lives would glorify Him. And, because of that, life itself should be able to do just that. I think about the people in my life who are fully alive. Their vivacity, their zest for life, their care for others and love for God nearly takes my breath away. And now I start to understand what Saint Iranaeus meant.
There are so many people who let life slip by them while they stand on the sidelines, watching. In his classic book Walden, Henry David Thoreau said that "the mass of men lead lived of quiet desperation." God has given so much to us - so much to enjoy, to experience, to do. But most of us don't even recognize it. That is why it is so encouraging, exciting, glorifying when we see someone squeezing every drop out of life that he can.
It is such a rare thing, but God meant it to be the norm. So often we let fear of the unknown or avoidance of the difficult keep us from enjoying God's best for us, keep us from truly living. So my question today is this: am I fully alive today? Are you? Are our lives glorifying to God?
John 17:1-5, 20-24
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began..... 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 
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