The People’s Choice and Awards for God.
Man loves to give out awards but if awards for God were being handed out, which ones should God receive? Brad Hewey has some ideas.
Winter in North America
For many millions of us in North America, we were recently in the doldrums of winter. Cold, snow, freezing rain, grey skies. It is the time when we often turn to inside activities; reading, the gym, movies, shopping, crafts. For many, it’s a time when the old television is running on overtime. Long winter nights and poor weather, a lack of extra funds or extra energy can result in extra time spent in front of the old telly.
The Winter Awards Show Phenomenon
Did you know that January and February are the award show months? Most of the heavy hitting award shows premier in the first 2 months of the year. Perhaps you’ve seen the Emmy’s, the Grammy’s, the Golden Globes…. or you’re waiting on the Oscars or the People’s Choice Awards.
Although the shows differ, the productions have several key things in common. Most notably, men and women, who have risen to the top of their field, who as such are being acknowledged. Consider the influence that can be attained from a podium acceptance speech, or from a simple tweet…the masses that are hanging onto every thread. There is surely power in play when man recognizes man.
Awards That Ignore God
These award show auditoriums encompass together in one room, combined earnings that would eclipse the gross domestic product of countries like Somalia or Malawi, Burundi….and on and on. Oh, the lengths we will go to, to celebrate man, man’s wealth, and his status. And the celebration, and the awards handed out are misplaced, when we consider the one who should be praised… for all things. O that man would give God his rightful place.
David said,
“I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Ps. 9:1
In Psalm 95, we’re reminded to:
“Come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
So Why Does Man Pat Himself On the Back?
When we consider how man’s works are so undeniably insignificant in comparison with what God has put before us, it flies in the face of all things that man is continually looking for ways to pat himself on the back.
God’s word reminds us to lift our voice up to our Heavenly Father.
“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Eph. 5:20
Dallan Forgaill, the Irish poet of centuries past, captured the sentiment in the verses of the beautiful hymn “Be Thou My Vision”.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Shouldn’t God Be Given The Praise?
As we look around our world and witness every day the vast beauty before us, should not God be given the praise?
If we borrow the line from one of Shakespeare’s famed monologues, “all the worlds a stage”, should we not be acknowledging the one who created the world, who wrote the script, who designed and orchestrated the heavens and the earth?
To whom should go the award as it were for “creative director”. Did not GOD in heaven direct all of creation, and invent the very act of creation itself? When we hear the chorus of the voices of the birds, the whispering winds, or the sound of waves washing on shore, to whom should the award go for “best original score”?
The Award For Special Effects
What of the award for “special effects”? Do not thunder and lightning, the eclipse of the sun, or the miraculous appearance of a rainbow offer themselves as contenders?
Best landscape, best original score, best art direction, cinematography!
Our Lord has presented it all before us in 3D, HD, and IMAX.
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:31
God Is Not The People’s Choice
Yet God is not the “people’s choice”, when they look to offer praise for all that has been created. And sadly, we turn back the millennia, and see it has been that way throughout the ages, in countless painful examples.
Should not our Lord have been the “people’s choice” to have been released of Pilate on that dreadful crucifixion day?
We can hear the cries of the people ringing out from the pages of the gospels,
“crucify him, crucify him.”!
“ Why, what evil hath he done?” Pilate raised concern several times.
“I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.”
As the saying goes, history has a way of repeating itself. The “people’s choice” continues to be anything and everything, but God.
Man Does Not Acknowledge The Wonder Of God
As Christians, we understand that man in an unregenerate state, will not acknowledge, or consider the beauty, and the wonder of GOD.
“For the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned”.
Oh, that man would see the irony in handing out award after award, to those who are simply utilizing talents, tools, and resources that come from the one who has created the heavens and the earth, and everything in them.
Let us continue to:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness is to all generations.” Ps. 100:4-5
Let all who love him and seek to acknowledge him in all things, say with the one of old;
“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
Do you think that you will receive an award from God? Contact us at HopeStreamRadio, or comment below.
Brad Hewey
Brad offers up practical, scriptural advice from a perspective borne out of everyday life encounters. As we live and move and have our being…it’s the individual life lessons that most often present the greatest challenges, but can yield the richest blessings. We’ve all, as Christians had those faith-affirming moments, where we’ve had an overwhelming sense of God’s spirit, or his very presence “at a particular but, maybe random time”.
Brad was born and still resides in a small community in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, where he and his wife Karen raised their 3 children. Brad & Karen fellowship at the Greenland Bible Chapel, where Brad serves as an elder.
Brad loves meeting and engaging with people. His background in sales has provided opportunities to travel throughout the US and Canada, networking with people from all walks of life. Brad is a singer/songwriter and has recorded 3 Christian albums. Songs from his “Brighter Day” release, have aired on Christian Radio stations across Canada and two of Brad’s albums are on HopeStreamRadio’s playlist.
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Images Courtesy Of:
Oscar – Kalhh
Ice Hockey – Jill111
Rainbow – Pexels
Golden Cup – Public Domain
Waterfall – Free-Photos
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