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“And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba…and Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 13:3-4).
Saul was the king of Israel, but he did not have the spiritual energy to go out himself and fight with the Philistines. But when his son Jonathan did it, Saul took the credit for it. This has been a pattern of man’s sinful heart all through his history. You have all heard of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. But after he had patented his invention, many other people tried to take credit for it, and to make money from it. His patent was contested more than any other previous patent in the history of the United States.
This kind of thing occurs even among Christians, and is a real dishonor to the Lord. Let us not be guilty of doing it; let us be ready to praise others for what they have done for the Lord, instead of trying to take the credit to ourselves. However, if someone else takes credit for something we do, what should we do? We should ignore it, for if we really did it for the Lord, we can be sure that He has the record straight. At the judgment seat of Christ, He will know whom to reward in the right way.
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