LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Friday 3rd September 2021
HONOUR THE LORD WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3
Honour the LORD with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10
Our relationship with God is based on honour. God gives us His commandments to help us honour Him and our fellow human beings. When the Law commands us to worship the Lord our God, that command is a call for us to honour God above all else. Similarly, when the Law commands us not to steal, it calls us to honour other people’s properties.
What does it mean to honour? To honour is to place a high value on someone, and to offer something weighty and worthy. That means whatever we offer another to show honour, must be done in the light of the importance we place on who we are honouring.
Honour is not the same for all people. The honour a child gives to his parents is not the same as the honour that child shows to the rest of his siblings. Though both parents and siblings will receive recognition, it is most likely that the honour that goes to the parent will be higher than what goes to the siblings. By extension, since God is the highest being, the glory we give to Him should be the highest.
We honour God with our possessions. Possession is something that belongs to us or things we have acquired with our effort. Often, we see the things we labour for and earn as strictly ours and within our power to determine what to do with them. That is true. However, if we consider God as the owner of our lives, we need to pay homage to Him for all we possess.
We honour the Lord with the first fruits of all our increase. The first fruit is the very best portion of something. It is not the leftover after we have made all expenses. The first fruit is the portion we give to God first before we make other expenses. Because God is the Most High, our honour to Him must come from the topmost part of all our earnings. That is the kind of giving that honours God.
We will be filled to the overflow. God promises that when we genuinely honour Him with our giving, our cup will be filled and run over. Let’s honour the Lord and watch Him pour back honour into our lives.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, all that I have is yours. Teach me to honour you with the best of all that I have. In Jesus’ name, Amen.