When I was a child, what made me happiest was doing something that made my parents say,

well done. When I would act in a school play or run onto a football field or write a little

story, their praise meant more to me than anyone or anything else. Now, as a parent myself,

even though our daughter isn't yet able to speak,

I can see on her face what a difference those words make. Well done, well done. And all of us know what happens when those words are absent. The absence of well done when we're growing up can be devastating. Even as adults

deep in our hearts, we long for approval, for praise, for recognition. It gives us great joy when we

receive it and a real sense of loss when we don't. Even now, I wonder how much of

what I do is motivated, at least partly in the hope that my dad will say, well done, son.

One way of describing the approval, praise and recognition we yearn for is glory. As human beings, you and I are

glory seekers. We try to get glory from our parents, yes, but also from our jobs, our status,

our relationships, our achievements, and though we often look for it in the wrong places, places that don't ultimately

satisfy us, that hunger for glory is a good and God-given thing, because you and I have been made

for glory. Romans chapter 2 verse 7 says, to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and

honour and immortality, God will give eternal life. So glory apparently ought to motivate us in

everyday life. Jesus chastises people, not for seeking glory,

but for seeking it in the wrong places. And one of those wrong places is seeking glory from

other people rather than from God. How can you believe, Jesus says to the religious people in John chapter 5,

when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

However, the road to finding the glory that comes from the only God is not some beautiful, scenic path that gets

more and more lovely with every passing minute, like a gently climbing road in the Swiss Alps.

In fact, it passes through a very rough neighbourhood.

The road to glory goes through Gessimony and Golgotha.

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