Give God the Glory
Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country.
So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.
But the word of God grew and multiplied. Acts 12:20-24
In the above passage we read of Herod and his ill fate due to not giving God the glory. While people praised Herod and raised him up to a status of a god, Herod sat back and drank in the praise. The people said that his voice was that "of a god and not of a man" and Herod did not correct the people. Herod seemed to have no problem being placed on a pedestal, having people think of him as more than a man. Herod’s actions cost him his life, and he died a gruesome death.
We know that Peter faced a similar situation where he was being placed higher than a man, but he reacted much differently:
As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” Acts 10:25-26
When Peter came to Cornelius, who was a just man and one who feared God (Acts 10:22), Cornelius fell down and worshipped Peter. But we see that Peter acted appropriately and admitted that he was just a man like Cornelius. Peter knew to give glory to God and not to take it for himself, like Herod had done.
In Acts 10 we can see that even righteous people can sometimes place other people on a higher plane than should be. How easy is it for us to place someone on a pedestal and think of them as someone higher than a man? Sometimes we may think of certain leaders, inventors, or preachers as people greater than ourselves.
No matter who the person is, we need to recognize that they are just a human being like us; one who has sinned like us (Rom. 3:23). We ought to glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:20), giving Him the glory and saving none for ourselves.
-- John Thrower Jr.