When Honor Is Due

When Honor Is Due

Exodus 20:12 (NASB)

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

    When presidents die, the nation honors their contributions to the nation. The same happens when a military or local public service hero loses his or her life. Such honor is well-deserved. However, other expressions of honor seem to be practiced less: gentlemen treating ladies respectfully, younger people rising to greet an elderly person, children honoring their parents, people honoring the nation’s flag, and others.

    There is something timeless and universal about “honor.” For instance, hundreds of years before Moses wrote down the fifth of the Ten Commandments—the command to honor one’s parents—Joseph did that very thing without being commanded. Though his mother was dead, Joseph honored his father, Jacob, by bringing his household to Egypt, introducing him to Pharaoh, settling his family in the choice lands in Egypt, and returning his body to Canaan to be buried when he died. Most of all, Joseph wept grievously over his father when he died and called the nation of Egypt to honor him at his passing.

    Honor feels right when extended and feels wrong when it is withheld. Look for someone to honor today in word or deed (Romans 13:7).

    Augustine said, “Honour ought to seek thee, not thou seek it.”