Today’s 333 Devotional: “Seek Not Honor”

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus performed miracles, but then told the recipient not to say anything about Himself doing the healing.

After healing the leper, Jesus said, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:4)

The question is why? The answer may well be why Jesus came. He said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38).

Jesus was doing what the Father gave Him to do, He came to do the Father’s will, not His own.

We could say is that Jesus came as a servant in direct fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming Messiah found in Isaiah 52 and 53. And in doing so was exhibiting and attitude of humility.

Jesus tells us to do the same, that we are to never seek our own honor. This is even seen in our giving when Jesus tells us not to sound a trumpet when we give so that everyone would know, but rather not to let our right hand know what our left hand is doing, or do it in secret (Matthew 6:1-4).

In whatever we do, we need to give all the glory and honor to God, and not receive any ourselves. This was John the Baptist summary. He said, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

It should never be “I prayed for someone, and they were healed,” or “God used me to do this or that.”

The reason is because we don’t want people focusing on us, but rather upon God who worked in us and through us.

As we move forward into the will and ways of God, let’s not seek our own honor in what we do, but rather let’s deflect all honor and glory to God whom it is all about in the first place.