LIVING AND LEAVING WITH HONOR

…so he died in severe pain. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

(2 Chronicles 21:19-20, NKJV)

Jehoram, King of Judah, was wicked. He murdered his brothers, engaged in idolatry, and led his nation into idolatry. He brought God’s punishment on himself and the nation. He was so bad that no one missed him when he was gone.

Those who live without honor often leave without honor.

If you live in a way that brings misery on yourself and those around you, your absence will make others feel relieved, not grieved. When the troublesome relative who makes everyone uncomfortable leaves the family gathering, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. A life without God will result in a life without honor. We become our own god, determining our own sense of right and wrong - which revolves around pleasing ourselves. That selfishness will lead us to live in ways that bring misery in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. No one misses a miserable person.

Honor God with your life. Leave a legacy of honoring God.

The solution is a life focused on God, not ourselves. We will find more joy in that kind of life, and bring more joy to others. To honor God with our lives, we must know God through faith in Jesus Christ, His Son, who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose again. We must also live in ways that demonstrate our love for God and others, not to try to earn our way to heaven, but because we love the One who provided a way to heaven for us and we love those whom He loves. Such a life honors God and inspires others to do the same.