Daily Devotions
Today’s Reading: John 12:20-50 & Psalm 22
“Now My heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!”
John 12:27-28
Jesus knew about the plot. He foresaw the crowd stomping through the garden. He could hear the voice of Pontius Pilate. The hill of Calvary loomed ahead of Him.
Jesus knew—now was this hour … that fingerprint of God in human history. Our Lord could look at this hour and not shrink from it, but rather see it for what it was. Clearly, this hour would result in His suffering and death, but also this hour would glorify God.
Because of this hour, Saul ceased persecuting the church and became one of her greatest missionaries. Because of this hour, the earliest Christians confessed Christ boldly, even at the cost of their own earthly lives. Because of this hour, Martin Luther yielded himself as God’s instrument to call His people back to the centrality and authority of His Word.
When we look at our Lord’s way of bringing glory to His Father, it’s clear how misguided and mistaken are our attempts at glory. Often glory gets equated with personal recognition. When Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify Your name,” He backed away from anything personal and accepted that His Father deserved to be adored, praised, and glorified for this hour…the salvation of the world.
Shouldn’t we, too, step away from ourselves, knowing that because of what Jesus Christ did in this hour, the Father approves of us. Let’s think, speak, act as glorifiers … adorers … praisers of God in this hour!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, graciously help us when this hour brings pain, hardship, or sorrow so that we may glorify Your name with true purity of heart, as did our Lord and Savior, through whom we pray. Amen.
Response
What does in this hour say to those seemingly drab, dull, meaningless things you have to do during the course of a day?