I woke up at 3:30 in the morning recently. That’s not an hour where I normally have a great deal of clarity. But on that morning, I was immediately hit with the thought that the only important thing is to honor God with all my life. I must make every decision with the aim of honoring God. Every activity I endeavor to engage in, every plan I make, every thought I think, and every word I speak means nothing if they are not honoring to God.
Who or what else is worthy of my honor? Me? Certainly not! Only the Lord is worthy of honor and praise (Psalm 96:4; Deuteronomy 10:21; Revelation 5:12; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 29:2). In the dark and stillness of the night, it was a clear and simple course of action. Whatever else I would do that day, it would mean nothing if it weren’t for the glory of God.
I’m reminded of the beginning of the Westminster shorter catechism which asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer given is, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Our primary mission in life is to honor Him. To honor God, we surrender everything to His will. We love His commands (John 14:15) and worship His beauty (Psalm 96:9). When our chief end is to know God, the things of this world will not distract us. We will immediately recognize how anything in this world pales compared to knowing Him (Philippians 3:8).
Like any discipline, honoring God in everything we do requires diligence and perseverance. The more we do it, the more natural it will become. The more we recognize how futile it is to pursue anything or anyone other than Jesus, the more we will seek Him. A warning: this is going to make you weird. It’s okay; weird in the eyes of the world is a good thing. It means you are different, set apart, just as Christ called you to be (1 Peter 2:9).
When we desire to honor God, the quest for success will become irrelevant. Being liked or popular also fades away because we are not the point of our lives. Jesus is. Who cares what people think of us so long as we are honoring God in everything we think, say, and do? We are choosing the eternal over the temporary, the truth over a lie.
A life spent honoring God is the only life worth living. Each of us will honor someone or something by the way we think, speak, and act. What are you glorifying? Who is the person you are striving to imitate? Only God is worthy of our honor. None of this life means anything without Him. Everything you achieve or acquire here is going to be destroyed. You can’t keep a single piece of it. All of your success, intellect, and possessions will die with you. What will you offer to Christ when He asks what you have done for Him?
Spend your life honoring God and surrender everything to Him. Don’t go into eternity empty-handed. Give God the glory and honor due Him and you will gain more than you can ever imagine. You may lose the world, but you will gain Christ. He is the goal, and He is the reward. There is nothing better than that.