Praying As We Receive Honour

RECEIVING HONOUR

The warmer days of spring are here for many of us and with better weather comes school graduations, and happy events like weddings.  I was thinking about events and celebrations and milestones when I read some final words that Moses tells the people before they head into the land God has promised them.

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”  Deuteronomy 26:16-19

I can just hear the commencement speaker charging the graduates as they look to their future with these kinds of words.  It also reminds me of what a pastor speaks to the wedding couple standing before him as he prepares them to pledge their commitment to one another for the rest of their lives.  “Here’s what you are saying you will do. Now go out and keep your word.”

In the case of today’s reading, we have the promise of our faithful God to hold onto.  If we will follow Him with all our heart and soul, He will make us holy and set us in a place of honour.  He promised it.  He will fulfill it.  We can’t even imagine how good our future can be when we make the daily choice to honour God and our commitments in the ordinary events of each ordinary day.

Loving God, we can see in history how faithful You were to Your promises to Your people and we have no reasons to expect that You will be in any way different with us.  You know our hearts.  We want to follow You with all our hearts and all our soul but we falter over and over again. Thank You for Your commitment to us over the long haul.

Thank You for making us Your treasured possession as we place our faith and trust in You.  Thank you for the promise of honour and even fame as You make us into people who are healed and whole and holy before You and others.

We are so grateful for examples of lives well lived that we see in many of our seniors and we give thanks for them and their faithful walk with You that has developed the strong and sweet character we see in them in this stage of their lives.  Bless them today.  Fill their day with honour and joy today we pray. 

Help all of us to follow Your rules and statutes one more day today and allow You to build your character in us at ever deeper levels.  Amen

Is there a senior in your life today who could do with a call or a note of encouragement today as you thank them for the example of their lives that has blessed you.  I encourage us to take a moment and make contact with someone like that.