Honor

PRAYER: Father God, I boldly come to You this morning and inquire about failure.  It's interesting that what may look like failure to me and to those around me, is actually Your opportunity to show all of us what You can deliver into our hands.  An inheritance that can come  only from You.  An inheritance that is more than we can ever think of and ask for.  So I ask that even in what we see as failure, we continue to come to You.  No matter how much it hurts, no matter how hard we cry, that we always turn to You for our next steps.  And LORD, let us be obedient to Your Word and guidance.  Even when we don't understand what we are stepping into, we do know You are a good God, a God that loves us unconditionally and faithfully and Your plan is not to harm us, but to give us great success.  I stand on your sweet Spirit, Your powerful and living Word, and Your kind and loving heart to Your children.  I'm thankful to be a child of God.  In the name of Your Son, our Savior-Jesus!  Amen

MATTHEW 20:20-28 

A MOTHER'S REQUEST:

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.  ²¹ "What is it you want?" he asked.

She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."  

22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them.  "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"

"We can," they answered.

23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.  These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.  ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  ²⁶ Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--  ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Zebedee's sons were the disciples James and John.  Their mother is the one who came to Jesus with this favor.  She knelt respectfully with Jesus, but her real motive was to get something from Him.  Some of you are parents, can you imagine asking Jesus this favor?  Asking Jesus to give your child a special position in His Kingdom?  I consider it an honor just to be welcomed and living in His kingdom.  Being a "resident" already comes with great responsibility.  How much more can a person want?  But that's the thing, people don't think of the responsibility when it comes to higher positions-usually they're only thinking about the honor, and in this world -- the pay increase. 

Parents naturally want to see their children promoted and honored and they instill this achievement in their children.  But this desire is dangerous if it causes us to stand in the way of God's specific will for His children.  God may have different work in mind for you--perhaps not as glamorous but just as important.  Thus, parents' desires for their children's advancement must be held in check as they pray that God's will be done in their children's lives.  Our own desires must remain in check as we pray that God's will be done in our lives.

Too often we go to Jesus just because we want something from Him, and usually this is to honor ourselves and not the LORD.  We play religious games, expecting God to give us something in return.  True worship, however, adores and praises Christ for who He is and for what He has already done.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HONOR OR ARE YOU LOOKING TO HONOR GOD?