A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him

"A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." — These striking words from C.S. Lewis carry with them the weight of deep truth and cosmic perspective. In them, Lewis invites us to recognize the immensity of God's glory and the foolishness of believing that we, mere mortals, can somehow diminish or alter it. The glory of God, like the sun, shines ever bright and eternal, and no act of defiance, no matter how vehement, can change that fundamental reality. To deny or refuse to worship God is not to affect His splendor or majesty, but rather to blind oneself to it — to turn away from the light that shines regardless of our acceptance of it.

In the ancient teachings, the glory of the Divine has always been viewed as an unchanging, eternal force — beyond human comprehension and beyond the reach of human actions. The psalmists spoke of God's glory as filling the heavens and the earth, of it being visible in the vastness of the sky, in the mountains, and in the great movements of the stars. God’s glory is not dependent on human perception or recognition, for it exists beyond the veil of time and space. The belief that one’s refusal to acknowledge God could diminish or alter His glory is akin to thinking that one can extinguish the sun by denying its light. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Divine.

Consider the life of Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king of Babylon, whose pride and arrogance led him to believe that he could challenge the glory of God. In the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar builds a golden statue of himself and commands all his subjects to worship it. When three Hebrew youths refuse, he casts them into a fiery furnace, intending to destroy their defiance. But what happens? The glory of God is revealed even more powerfully, as the youths are untouched by the flames and a fourth figure, a divine presence, appears with them in the fire. Despite the king’s pride and efforts to demand worship, he cannot diminish God’s glory. Instead, the Divine’s magnificence shines forth in the most impossible of circumstances, proving that God’s majesty is unaffected by human rebellion.

Similarly, the story of Satan in Christian tradition offers another illustration. In his rebellion, Satan sought to place himself above God, to overthrow the Creator’s glory and rule. Yet despite his efforts, Satan’s fall only highlighted God’s unmatched greatness. The glory of God remains unscathed, for it is not subject to the will of any creature, no matter how powerful. Just as the sun does not cease to shine because a person chooses to deny its light, so too does God’s glory remain undiminished by human arrogance or pride. The universe continues to reflect His splendor, regardless of our response.

The lesson here is one of profound humility and perspective: the glory of God does not depend on our worship of Him; rather, our worship of Him aligns us with the truth of His unchanging greatness. When we choose to worship, we enter into the reality of God’s truth and light, and we participate in the eternal song of creation. But to refuse to worship or to deny His presence is to live in delusion, as though one could somehow shut out the sun by writing on the wall of one’s own prison cell. The truth of God’s glory shines with or without our acknowledgment.

In our own lives, let us understand that God’s glory is not a fleeting thing to be gained or lost by our actions. We cannot diminish it by turning away, nor can we add to it by praise. But what we can do is choose to live in the light of it, to walk in the knowledge that God’s presence fills all things, that the sun shines regardless of whether we choose to look at it. Just as the sun’s rays touch every corner of the earth, God’s glory touches every corner of creation. It is ever-present, and our awareness of it is what transforms our lives. To live in humility and gratitude is to acknowledge the eternal truth that God is sovereign, and that His glory will forever remain untouchable by human hands.

Therefore, the challenge is this: live in the light of God’s glory. Do not waste time trying to deny or ignore it, for it will not fade, regardless of our actions. Instead, let us choose to reflect that glory in our lives — through humility, grace, and obedience. Let us walk as those who know the sun shines, and, in that knowledge, let our hearts shine with the same radiance. For in recognizing God’s glory, we are lifted up, and in worshiping, we find the fullness of life.