The word “Honor” has a variety of definitions. In the Bible, the English word “Honor” is often used to refer to treating someone or something as extremely precious or valuable. That is exactly how you and I are to treat God and the relationship that we have with Him, if we’ve become Christians and genuine followers of Jesus Christ. At first glance, honoring God may seem like a monumental task. But the good news is that the book of Malachi in the Old Testament gives us 9 specific principles that we can apply in our lives, so that we can honor God successfully. We covered the first 5 principles in previous “It’s All About Honor” posts during May – June and November – December 2009; be sure to check those out for a quick refresher. But in Malachi 3:1-6, the Bible highlights principle number 6, which deals with the issue of purity in our lives.
In Malachi 3:1-6, the Bible speaks of God as being like a “refiner’s fire” and “like a fuller’s [launderer’s] soap.” The passage describes God as a metallurgist, who smelts, refines, and removes impurities from precious metals. Verse 5 indicates that God wants to keep His people from engaging in things like: sorcery [in the Bible the word “sorcerer” or “sorcery” is used to refer to: witchcraft, occult practices, and satanic worship, and it is also used to refer to mind altering drugs and substances], adultery [sex outside the boundaries of marriage], lying and deception [“swearing falsely” v.5], stealing [unfair treatment of wage-earners / hired workers], unfair treatment of those who are in need [for example: widows, orphans, immigrants v.5]. To put it simply, God wants His people to live lives that are pure and free from sin; that’s one of the biggest ways that we can honor Him. But how do we do that?
The author of Psalm 119 asked that same question. In Psalm 119:9, it says, “How can a young man keep his way pure ? By keeping it according to your word.” In the Septuagint version of Psalm 119 [the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament] the word “pure” is “katharos,” which is where we get the English word “catheter” from. By definition, a catheter is designed to remove impurities from the body. That’s exactly what God’s Word [The Bible] will do in our lives. It’s a very strange analogy, I know. But God’s Word functions as a spiritual catheter in our lives. When we look to God’s Word, learn from God’s Word and then live according to God’s Word, it will purify our lives like nothing else will. And we will be well on our way to living lives that honor God. [Posted 1/26/10]
