Honor: It's a Magnet!

1 Samuel 2:30Amplified Bible (AMP)
30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, I did promise that your house and that of your father [forefather Aaron] should go in and out before Me forever. But now the Lord says, Be it far from Me. For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

There is something amazing that happens in our lives when we honor the Lord.  He draws near to us!  God Almighty in all His beauty and His love and strength and power is drawn to us and all of Who He is begins to invade our lives!  Honor is a magnet that draws the Lord into our lives! 

In the verse above, the word despise means , “to place no value on, to think little of, or give no regard to”.  It doesn’t mean hate.  It simply means “to place little or no value on”. 
Let’s be very clear.  God has ALREADY honored us by creating us.  In addition to that, He crowned mankind with honor and glory!  (Psalm 8)  He crowned us with His very life – what makes God God – He crowned mankind with that.  Seriously, give that some thought.  When mankind sinned against Him, he honored (or placed great value) on us by sending Jesus as our sin substitute and offering us His forgiveness and His great salvation!

He has also already given us everything that pertains to life and godliness.  He has given us great and precious promises.  (2^nd Peter 1:3-4).   We don’t honor first.  God took the first step.  God reached out to us.  Is it now possible to short circuit and come up short of God’s promises?  Is it possible to forfeit something that He has already given – a promise from Him that has already been made?  According to 1 Samuel 2:30, it is very possible.  How?  By not honoring the Lord.  By not placing value on Him and the things He places value on.  By thinking very little of Him and about Him. 

I am always amazed at how He runs to those who are hungry, who are looking for Him, who are placing value on knowing Him.  I’ve always said that when a person is hungry for God no matter where they are, no matter where they’ve come from – God moves and shakes things and always brings people into their lives to make sure that they GET HIM!  Honor.  It is a magnet!  It draws Him to us! 

We need to give some real attention to how we are living our everyday lives.  What are some indicators that we are honoring the Lord?  What are some indicators that we are despising (placing little value on) Him?  Do we honor His Word by giving attention to it everyday or do we only open our Bible on Sunday?  Do we acknowledge Him as our Lord or do we go about our day without even acknowledging Him?  

Do we make the effort to get to church to hear His Word being preached and taught – a Word from heaven just for us, or is our relaxing time and entertainment more valuable to us?  Is Sunday morning good enough for the things of God?  Do we think about the church He’s called us to and give thought on how we can partner with Him and His plan in the earth and be a blessing where He’s planted us or is Sunday morning enough for us?   

Where are we spending our money?  We all should look at our check registers and on line banking accounts and just take inventory.  Where is it that we are spending and investing our money?  Are we honoring the Lord with our money, or are we giving little thought to the things of God when it comes to our resources? 

Honor is a heart thing.  Honor or dishonor is a heart condition.  There are certainly times in our lives that we need a heart check up.  During the course of life there can be things that occur that we’ve allowed to harden our hearts, and with a hard heart comes deception.  We can think we are all right when in reality we have drifted away from the Lord and His good plan He has for us.  

We’ve allowed dishonor to creep in.  If that is the case, the good news is, repentance is a gift for all of us!  I am endeavoring this year to honor the Lord more in every area of my life.  I want Him!  I want what only He can do!  I want His power, His Presence and His goodness to flood my life, my family’s lives, my church and my community!  Honor is the magnet that draws Him to us!