November 16 Daily Devotional

God must be worshipped for His own sake

If we advocate godliness simply because it leads to the true morality, if we commend religion because it leads to the best state of society, then we are reversing the order actually and insulting God. God must never be regarded as a means to an end; and religion is not to be commended primarily because of certain benefits which follow its practice.... Hence the temptation to statesmen and leaders to pay lip service to religion, and to believe in its maintenance in a general form.... God is to be worshipped because He is God, because He is the Creator, because He is the Almighty, because He is the ‘high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity’, because His Name is Holy. And in His presence it is impossible to think of anything else. All thoughts of self and of benefits that may accrue, all ideas concerning the possible results and advantages to ourselves, or to our class or country, are banished. He is supreme and He is alone.... The results and blessings of salvation, the moral life and the improved state of society—all these things are the consequence of true belief and they must never be allowed to usurp the supreme position....

This is one of the most subtle dangers that faces us as we try to think out and plan a new state of society for the future. It is a danger which can be seen in the writings of a number of writers today who are concerned about the state of this country.... They advocate a religious society and a Christian education ... simply because they have found all else to fail, and because they think that this is more likely to be successful. But ... before you can have a Christian society and Christian education you must first of all have Christians. No education or culture, no mode of training, will ever produce Christians and the corresponding morality. To do that we must come face to face with God and see our sin and helpless plight ... we must repent before Him and then receive His gracious offer of salvation in Jesus Christ His Son.... God must be worshipped for His own sake.

The Plight of Man and the Power of God, pp. 31–2