For the past several months my Bible reading has been in the Old Testament. I finished Numbers yesterday! The first 5 books of the Bible can be tough reading, but Holy Spirit has been showing me so much as I read.
A question regularly on my mind as I read the extensive details of the sacrifices, the tabernacle, the priestly garments, and more mentioned in Exodus, has been “why such detail?” The one word that resonated in answer was honor. God confirmed that during a sermon from Keith Moore that I was watching on TV.
The next morning as I read Exodus 34 and 35, the Lord brought forth the subject again. While I journaled afterward and thought about it, Holy Spirit brought revelation—I had never properly honored God.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines honor in this way: “to show high regard or appreciation for : to pay tribute to : to regard or treat with honor or respect .” (That’s wild that the dictionary used a verse from Exodus to illustrate the word usage!)
Honoring God can be difficult, especially if we did not honor our own earthly fathers. God intended for them to be role models of Christ to their families. This is a big reason why the devil has worked so hard to take fathers out of the home. And often the relationship we have with our earthly father affects how we relate to God the Father.
Total transparency here, I didn’t honor my earthly father as I should have. Not until much later in my adult life.
What I didn’t realize until that morning when God first mentioned honor was that I not only dishonored Him, I also resented Him. In that moment of revelation and realization, I asked for forgiveness.
God forgave me, and a big hole in my soul was healed that day. Since then, I have drawn even closer to God.
How about you? Do you honor God?