In the June Pastor’s Chat, we took a little detour from writing on our church theme for 2009— God is Worthy! This month we will come back to the next part of Revelation 5:12 which tells us that God is worthy of honor.
Do we honor God as we should? To answer that question we need to understand what honor is. To honor, according to Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, is to “revere; to respect; to treat with deference and submission, and perform relative duties to.” Truly, our lives will show every day if we revere and respect God or not!
What did you do this morning that showed reverence to God? What will you do next that will show respect to God? Or since honor begins in one’s heart toward God, maybe you should ask: “Is my heart submissive to God right now?” God challenges us with this truth through His prophet Isaiah: “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 28:13). Honor certainly cannot be created by the command of anyone. It is an attitude of the heart that reveals itself in decisions concerning your money (Proverbs 3:9) and your time (Isaiah 58:13-14). How you use your money and spend your time will reveal how much you really honor God.
We have probably all watched a child (or been that child) that with an expression of arrogance mouthed off at a parent in defiance saying, “No!” Remember how ugly that looked? We must look even worse to God when in defiance we choose to do our own will instead of honoring His will.
With prayer, Mark Worden
