Mon., 8/12/13 Devotion (1 Sam. 2:30c)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Samuel 2:30c, where we read these words:

" . . . For those who honor Me [the Lord] I will honor, and those who de-spise Me shall be lightly esteemed."

The Lord cannot be "outdone." If anyone is willing, by grace through faith in Christ alone, to "honor" Him, God will more than "return the favor." On the flip side: those who treat the Lord with disdain will be "lightly esteemed." (And to be "lightly esteemed" by God is *not* a good thing.)

How do we honor God? Only one thing pleases Him, and that is faith in Christ. (See Heb. 11:6 for vivid proof of this.) Sincere faith will, inevit-ably, lead to a life of love for God, which results in obedience, begin-ning with Sunday (Sabbath) observance, church membership, and true worship.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Morality shoots short of heaven. It is only nature refined. A moral man is but old Adam dressed in fine clothes."
--Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repentance"]