Take It Too Far by Jess Connolly

Author:Jess Connolly [Connolly, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2020-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Take Abiding Too Far

Today in your time with God, just sit with Him. Just remain—in silence, in quiet, without trying to get better or earn your place there.

50 HONOR

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”—JOHN 12:26

When I think about honor, I think about standing up when someone enters the room. I feel like this cultural practice has slowed way down in the past few decades, and I’m not sure whether that’s a good or a bad thing. But now it’s so infrequent that when it does happen, we really take notice: this is someone who deserves honor.

A dignitary, an elder we respect, our boss—these are people who might bring us to our feet when they enter our presence. The gesture is transactional; it’s based on something they bring to the table—even if they haven’t earned the honor. We give them worldly honor because on earth they have been ascribed more value or glory for some particular reason.

What’s interesting about worldly honor is that it always keeps us from relational intimacy. You don’t cuddle up next to the person you respect the most or pour out your heart to the politician who just entered the room. The more we honor and revere someone on earth, the more likely it is that we’ll be kept from close contact with that person. And this is where kingdom honor takes a massive turn away from the ways of this world.

First, God gives out honor through Jesus—not transactionally but rather by transposing His affections for His Son onto us, covering us with His shed blood, and showering His love, grace, and mercy on us. We follow Jesus, and we’re in—no matter our future transgressions or our past mistakes. We are bestowed honor we don’t deserve from a God who gives it freely.

And the honor that we give Him back is nothing like the world in that the more praise and respect and reverence we pour His way, the nearer we are to Him. Once we honor Him as Lord and treat Him that way, we’re not kept far off but brought near, our intimacy with Him purchased and procured, once again, by Jesus.

May we take honor too far, the way God does—respecting and revering the children He loves but also acknowledging that no one is too messy to be kept from Him. May we draw close to others as we encourage them to perceive just how close He has come for all of us.

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