Honoring God

Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30

The world will often honor those who honor the spirit of the age. To be "on the right side of history" is just another way of saying that. It is the same thing as licking the finger to see which way the wind is blowing. And if you seek the honor of the age, you very might get it. But we shouldn't want that. Our Lord told the people in his day, "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" (Jn. 5:44). You won't believe God's word or live by it when your aim is the honor that comes from men.

In Romans 2:29, we read, "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Will our praise be from men or will it be from God (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5)? Charles Hodge wrote in his commentary on this verse the following insightful observation: "If the heart be right in the sight of God, it matters little what judgment men may form of us, and on the other hand, the approbation of men is a poor substitute for the favor of God." Brothers and sisters, let us be men and women who seek the glory of God and the favor of God. Anything else is a poor substitute.