December 24: Proverbs 27 21

Key Verse: Proverbs 27 21
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

Devotion:
One of the surest ways of finding out what a person is really like is to give them praise for something they have done. That person could do anything from the two extremes of accepting the praise with an eagerness which can only show pride and conceit to rejecting the praise in its totality; neither end of this scale would really be appreciated by us.

If we wanted to get the most out of fine metals such as gold and silver, we would have to refine them. To do so, they are placed in heat, the highest they can take, so the impurities get burned off, leaving the true metal behind. Giving someone a whole lot of praise would have the same effect on them. All the pretences they hold up will almost certainly get dropped. If that person were to accept the praise and make themselves proud, conceited, boastful, even scornful of others, then they are taking the praise straight to their heads thinking they are the ones who deserve all the praise... That praise should not be taken up in ourselves, but transmitted to those who actually deserve it. We may have been the ones who have had to do the hard work, we may even have had to fork up the money, but where has all of that come from in the beginning – who has made it all possible to start with?

God is the one who deserves the praise for the things He allows us to get involved in and to do. God alone is the great designer. God alone is the ultimate creator. How can we really take the honours when we know He is the one who has made it all possible...

If we get praised for doing things, then we have to accept said praise in the right light. God has allowed us to do what we have done, and the praise given should be a guide to us showing us what we have done right. That praise should encourage us to continue to do what is right. It should encourage us to show more respect to those praising us. It should encourage us to stay clear of things which may bring us down. Praise should guide us in the direction of the truth. If we are able to endure good and evil, able to endure both good praise and rejection, and still come out the other side the same (or better), then we have succeeded in showing that we a true.

Points to Ponder:
How does praise affect you?

Do you give God the praise He deserves?