Honour Your Father

A week late.  Plus a day.  Yet given the eternal value of the message, I comfort myself with the thought that any time is a good time to encourage others to honour their father.  And in this post, to honour THE Father.

I say a week plus a day late because it was that many days ago that we recognized the sentimental day known as Father's Day.  It was also the day I spoke at my church on the subject of honouring the Father, our Lord.  Whether a day recognized by the masses or not, every day is a day to honour Him.  And the beauty of it is that noone can claim they don't have a Father they can honour.  I know of the ills of this world and the impact it has had on family relations.  Oh, how well I know it.  I know how some out there hate Father's Day as it's a reminder of relationships gone sour.  Or, for some, a reminder of a beloved man now departed from this world, one who is missed dearly.  Either way, the heart is wrenched in a burdensome way when it comes to a day in which fathers should be honoured.  Fortunately, the very real and eternal presence of our heavenly Father makes it possible for all of us to engage in such a privileged act - the act of honouring our Father.

I thought about giving the text of my message in this post but I will refrain from this so as not to make it too lengthy a read.  I know for some that time is precious so perhaps time is best spent getting to the point.  So let's do it.

There are several passages I referenced when speaking on honouring the Father and I encourage you to read each of them.  In terms of a positive context, Daniel 4:37 and Revelation 4:11 (both in the NASB) both use the term "honour".  In the former, the previously unbelieving King Nebuchadnezzar, after being humbled in the wilderness, speaks of honouring God.  In the latter, the 24 elders fall before the throne of the King and proclaim honour to Him.

Then, in terms of the negative context, Daniel 5:23 (ESV) and I Samuel 2:30 (NASB) speak to dishonouring God.  The former is the account of Belshazzar who dishonoured God by using the elements of the Temple to party with.  In the latter, it was the sons of Eli, men who served before God, that did heinously dishonour God. (it's worth noting that Belshazzar at least was an unbeliever whilst the sons of Eli were allegedly men of God.  This is worthy of reflection.)

 There was much more said on the matter than I have time to go into here and perhaps that is just as well as I see this post getting quite lengthy already.  So I will conclude with this thought - when it comes to the sentiment of Father's Day, which is that we should honour our fathers, each of us, without exception, has such an opportunity.  This is because there is one Father who is eternal and who has made it possible for us to be in close relationship with Him.  So, because of this, let us all consider the worthy cause of honouring Him in all things.  In contrast, let us be aware that to not honour Him is to dishonour Him.  There is no neutral ground here - He is either honoured or dishonoured.

I leave you with the following passage to reflect upon.  May it inspire you to be quite intentional in your attitude and behaviour toward your Father by seeking His honour above all things:

"... for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Samuel 2:30b, ESV)

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This post is but one portion of a single message on this topic.  After you've commented on this one (I hope you will .... and yes, even criticism is invited), you can click here to read another (final) portion.