Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria is a phrase that means "To God Alone the Glory". Primarily used by reformers it was a rallying cry for the Protestant Reformation (5 Solas-fide,gratia,Christo,Scriptura). It means that no matter what God gets the glory and ONLY Him. This is not just a cry theologically but its practical. The Westminister Shorter Catecism question 1 asks what is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Our sole purpose on this earth is to glorify God and enjoy that.
To illustrate this I came across a wonderful passage that just made me want to jump up and down and just made me feel good.
Psalm 105:1-6,8,11

"Oh give thanks to the LORD;call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
²Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
³Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
⁴Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
⁵Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
⁶O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁸He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹¹saying,"To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance."

This passage says that we are to sing, to praise and to find glory in His name. The amazing part of this psalm is that it brings up so many connections with our New Testament. We see the covenant being remembered by GOd (which is a theme from Genesis to Revelation).

Vs. 6- tells us that the offspring of Abraham his servant (which brings to mind the promise that we have through Abraham as we are His children in Galatians 3:15-25) and we are His chosen ones (Jacob or Israel) which we can see from Eph. 1:4.

The vs. 11 gives us the promise of the "promised land" (eternal life in heaven can easily be trasnferred here as the covenant promised to thousands of generations from Abraham (see Galatians 3 again) we are given the promised land through Christ due to God's promise. That is exciting to me!!

Man to glorify God and enjoying that forever? Isn't that were our joy is derived and so then as this life is short and we know the pursuit of all this is "hebel" (futile, absurd or meaningless) our pursuit should always be of enjoying this life given as a gift and using it to glorify God with all things. I wish I did this more, I wish I would let the pursuit of all other things cease or be turned down so that I may enjoy the gift that I have in Christ. That I may pursue Him, glorify Him in action, but also with my heart, my mind and all that I have. But I know at the same time that because of Christ and His righteousness, His glory, and His indwelling inside me and my drawing closer to him (do not mistaken this for a works or merit based comment) and absolutely finding joy in that. If I took everything I did and dedicated it to the glory of God how would my life change? How would yours?

So then how are you doing this? Comment if you like

Be Blessed