Don't praise me, Praise Him!
This happens almost word for word three times! John bows to worship the angel, and the angel tells John, "No, I am just a servant. Don't worship me." I guess one thing to take away from that is that angels are truly awesome beings. I mean, we aren't talking about a random dude who is bowing to worship angels. This is John. The same guy who wrote, "we testify to that we have seen, and touched" about Jesus. And here he is dropping to worship an angel three times.
A second thing is how this relates to us. The angel had just showed John amazing things about God and delivered Christ's message to him. When we do that, when we show Christ to others through our words or our actions, people respond naturally with praise. What are they worshiping when they do that? They are responding to Christ's message. So the next time someone praises you for the great sermon, or song, or the time you spent volunteering, or the Bible study you taught, remember the angels response to John. "I am a servant of God, just like you. Don't praise me, praise Him."
A second thing is how this relates to us. The angel had just showed John amazing things about God and delivered Christ's message to him. When we do that, when we show Christ to others through our words or our actions, people respond naturally with praise. What are they worshiping when they do that? They are responding to Christ's message. So the next time someone praises you for the great sermon, or song, or the time you spent volunteering, or the Bible study you taught, remember the angels response to John. "I am a servant of God, just like you. Don't praise me, praise Him."
