Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. ~ Psalm 29:2 (NLT)
Honor is a word that doesn’t get used much anymore. Sure, there are certain types of honors: military, Pathfinder, academic, and other such things based on the merits of what we’ve achieved. But, using the word honor to describe a person just doesn’t get included in our everyday vocabulary.
So, other than honors we earn, what does it actually mean? The dictionary definition is “good name or public esteem; a showing of usually merited respect.” In other words, a person is shown respect because of what they have done or said that has been found to have great merit. (They did good things) (See https://goo.gl/3idpGB for more detail)
As our verse today puts it, “Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.” Based on this definition of honor, He has done everything for us. So, He certainly deserves our honor. But, what does this look like in a practical sense? It’s quite simple: Do we show respect to Jesus?
Of course, our easy answer is a resounding yes! However, honoring Jesus goes much deeper than simply showing reverence during times of worship. When it comes to a relationship, respect is much more holistic. (It involves every area of our lives)
Here’s where things get more uncomfortable. Do we honor Jesus by accepting His invitation to spend time with Him each and every day? (Not just Sabbath) Do we honor Jesus by praying some thanks His direction, even when nothing is going wrong in our lives? Do we honor Jesus by spending daily time in His scriptures, discovering more and more truth about who He is? Do we honor Jesus by serving our communities, because that’s what He calls us to do? Do we honor Jesus when He calls us to contribute our time, talents, resources, and testimony in service to His church? Do we honor Jesus at home, behind closed doors when no one is watching? Do we honor Jesus by the things we do and say on social media? In summary, do we honor Jesus in every area of our lives?
Those are all loaded questions that each of us must answer for ourselves. They are rough, for sure, but needed to help us evaluate our level of commitment to God’s kingdom.
ChadReisig.org 