Read Revelation 4:9-11.
The more we worship God, the smaller we become. Perhaps the opposite is even truer: the smaller we are in our own eyes, the greater our worship of God becomes.[1] Apparently the worship of the four angels around the throne of God evoked such a sense of God’s holiness that the elders sitting on their thrones got out of their own thrones and fell before God and cast their gold crowns before Him. Such prostration of mind, body, and heart! The crowns – their reward for a life of faithful service to God – were cast before God in essence saying, “God, everything we may have merited is only by your sovereign will. You created all things, and without You, there would be nothing to bring before You.”
Everything we have and done are only through the hand of God. There is nothing we bring to the table. We think we walk into a situation and do the work of God, but it is God who set up the situation in the first place. We think our good works for others are by our own hands, but God is the One who gives us eyes to see needs. God created and creates all things by His sovereign will.
Everything in life is a gift. Everything in eternity will be a gift. We don’t earn a thing. We may be blessed with good things for our faithful service (e.g. the golden crowns, treasures in heaven), but even these are gifts. Nothing is given for us to keep, but all things are given to cast at His feet to acknowledge God’s glory, honor, and power. Who are we to think we deserve anything? It is God who creates all things in our lives. In fact, if I read verse 11 correctly, all things existed before they were even created (see NAS, NRSV translations). They existed in the mind of God before their creation.
There will be a day in eternity when everything we have done in this life will be exposed to see Who was really at work. But we don’t need to wait until then to acknowledge the Creator of all things. We can do that right now in our attitudes, perspectives, thoughts, and actions. How are you acknowledging God in your home, work, school, church, activities, and relationships? How will you do that today?
[1] That is not to say the more worthless we feel, the more we will worship. One can have a healthy sense of worth without letting it go their heads. We are called to be humble. That does not mean thinking less of ourselves (self-worth), but rather thinking of ourselves less (selflessness).