Doing All To The Glory Of God
by Dan Jones, M.D.
I Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
The first time I took one of Dr. Germany’s tests in my college organic chemistry class, I was sure he had given us the test on the wrong chapters. I read the first question and didn’t recognize the content. With panic, I skimmed the rest of the questions. Nothing- I didn’t see one question I thought was a part of the material I had studied.
Then I recalled what an upperclassman had told me about Dr. Germany’s tests: “He doesn’t ask you questions directly on the material you studied. He expects you to use what you have learned to solve problems. So, I took a deep breath and slowly reread the first question. Okay, maybe I could apply what he had taught me to solve this question. And I did.
This is the same feeling I get sometimes when I am dealing with life’s difficult questions, especially in my professional life. There is no clear guidance when trying to help a patient with terminal cancer make choices about IV’s and feeding tubes. But, just as with Dr. Germany’s tests, there are Biblical principles to apply.
The principle noted in the first devotional in this series was proceeding cautiously in our own freedom to allow consideration of other’s beliefs. The second principle is to be sure we bring glory to God in any decision we make. In helping Corinthian Christians make good decisions about eating meat offered as a sacrifice, Paul encouraged them to keep this principle in their minds. Whatever we do should not be done to bring attention or glory for ourselves. We should never put “being right” in front of “bringing glory to God”.
As I set priorities in my own life, professional and personal I often find it necessary to “be right”. Sometimes in a discussion of difficult issues, I put being right (in others’ eyes) as such a high priority; I allow my vanity to get in the way of allowing others to see God through me and my life.
Lord, protect me from dogmatic thought when it is not useful to your Kingdom and does not bring glory to your name.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash
