Honor God First

So every family has priorities like even like a vibrant atmosphere in their home in their home. Yeah, everyone, and so it's interesting to think okay what is the survivor. What matters to the Wilson home. What are their values and what we live for. Yeah. Welcome to family life today where we want to help you pursue relationships that matter most and Wilson and Dave Wilson and you can find us if we live today.com or on our family life is family life today to remember when we asked her kids.

I remember when I have to find a way this is a great way to find out if you have like kids entered middle school are teenagers and preschool kids can answer this like a first grader can answer you asked of yeah and this is pretty common for me I would ask our kids. I just was always curious like I wonder what they think about this topic or the date I semi-thought my friends in my accountability group to ask their kids the same question here's the question what you think is important to the Wilson family.

What are values. When you feel like this is what we did for what were we thinking they were going to say I want them to say Jesus like on Wednesday. All were focused on the lost. We want to disciple people. That's what I'm thinking I'll say it in the scary thing is they answered it pretty quickly whether like to think horribly and here is the answer's floors.

That is embarrassing.

I'm blaming you for that. I was say that your fault I got that idea. Oh yeah so I do think they said that actually we have three sons.

They were all in sports and I think timewise that was taking most of our time.

You know we go from one event to the other event, but after they asked that question. I remember being in bed that night thinking we need to change. We need to change that and I don't want to force an answer upon but our kids usually have a vibe of like this is who we are and this is what were about and obviously some of that was you know their dad was the chaplain for Phil football to a really good NFL football to the Detroit Lions. So I think some of that was that.

You know the fact that I was around the sports world a lot.

Maybe you playing sports all the time. This is a video played a little too much for its then like you said they were involved from like peewee football in baseball and basketball all the way up through high school and they said some other things to they said will not just sports and so they had some good answers as well. I think one of the things that they did talk about Jesus and they talked about having fun yeah I think it's a great question for every family to ask what do you think were about an even more importantly, what we want to be about exactly what we want to be about what worry, hoping to create in terms of your an atmosphere mom you try to create a culture we as moms create that whether we know it or not, we create an atmosphere home. The question is what is so it is you want I wanted Jesus to be a part of everything that we did not in and not in a legalistic way. But in a relationship way that were about him. We talk about him and we want people to know him.

God's word. I think that was really important to us any. Most of that is caught rather than taught that so well things we thought we dug about today is a word that when we were first married, we heard a teacher named Gary Smalley who wrote a book called the blessing over yeah I mean back in the 80s.

He wrote a book with John Trent called the blessing where he looked at what was the blessing that a Hebrew father would give to his firstborn that he walked through the elements of that and there was a term in the book that we've never forgotten called honor and so we wanted honor to honor God to honor each other in our family and even to honor our neighbors. We are hoping that's what our kids would say this families about honoring God and honor and other switches. The most important commandment when Jesus was asked Rabbi what of all the commandments which is the most important. He literally quoted Deuteronomy 6 and he said love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, then he added, and love your neighbor as yourself. So that was sort of our our bar. It's like man of our home could be a home that honor God and honor to each other and honored others that would be an aroma that would be a mission worth hitting. I'm just gonna say in our culture today that something that's missing. It feels like we misunderstand one another. I feel like we have a hard time hearing others, let alone honoring Celeste talk about this. How do we calculate do it well.

I'm good.

I will read you from Smalley's book the blessing of how he described honor those talk about how we apply better try to play that in her own home. He said the first idea contained in the Hebrew word for bless is that of bowing the knee bowing before someone is a graphic picture of valuing that person.

I thought this was just insightfully says most Americans have never actually seen one person bow before another, but in biblical times in many cultures today. You bow before someone of great value. A king or queen, a prophet, someone considered important and of high worth when you bless someone you are really saying quote I choose to treat you as someone incredibly valuable in my life.

Of course we say bless the Lord were saying that as well.

Lord, you are incredibly valuable.

You are worthy of our bowing our knee before you. Along with this first picture comes a second biblical word picture the word for bless in a similar word for honor also carries the idea of adding weights or value to someone literally. It's a picture of adding coins to a scale so small he ends by saying this. Let's put these two pictures together now to gain a sharper focus on what it means to bless or honor someone, you are basically saying you are of such great value to me. I choose to add to your life. So man when you look at that sort of definition of honor. I'll never forget and again this was almost 40 years ago when we heard of this teaching. It's this idea of honor is to bow the knee to get our culture. We don't walk around bowing today but it's to attach high value to another person. We actually do that in our culture we call a judge, the Hon. Judge it is not something that we attach to somebody because we love them are even like them.

It's a position and so they get honor and so assist sense of, I mean obviously we don't literally walk around bending the knee. You know bowing, but think about this on their forget Smalley saying this is like when you honor someone when you bend the knee. When you attach value somebody. It's almost like your jaw drops it's like your you know I'm in the presence of somebody extremely valuable, so that's just a normal reaction, your jaw drops and you sorta have this you no sense right you know my picture is of a wedding day and because of our wedding but also seeing our three sons get married. They each had that posture and also their expression on their face of the jaw drop like you are amazing, you could just see the love and honor and even blessing oozing out of them, but then married and you start to see your spouse's flaws and you see the weaknesses and so sometimes it's hard to bend the knee, and to honor someone.

I wasn't sure when you propose usually been the name you get down on one knee, it would be interesting to think about marriage being attaching high value every day, which we don't yet often do on their forget I was at our church and I just finished a sermon and we had some Detroit Lions players come that day because we were sort of talking about what we do in our Bible study and after the sermon this guy walks up to me and as he's walking up to me. He literally gasped rate as he got up to me like I was like wow, this dude thinks like I'm really important, not me. I looked at them like why are you like acting. This didn't happen. It's never happened but you know I felt like wow he sees me and he gets close, he's like and then I turn around and stand behind me is Golden Tate, one of our football players was Debbie. I mean he wasn't showing honor to me. He was literate. His jaw dropped he gas because he considers an NFL player. Highly valuable and we do that in our culture.

We value certain positions in different people, celebrities, which is read to kill us. In some ways, but we do about anyway. The whole idea of what would it look like in our homes. If we honor God. Our family members in our neighbor the same way so that was one of the things we try to do in our home. Celeste talk about this.

How did we honor God in our home. Would you say you did. I think the most important thing was that we have always and still do we honor him with the sacrifice of our lives thinking of Romans 12 went into that we really have laid our lives on the altar of him to say God I give you everything and I think the kids of her to say it.

I think they've heard us pray it and so that's the first thing I would even ask our listeners have you done you surrendered everything in your life to him yeah and I mean the first priority in life is honor God before even your spouse before your kids before anything your life.

It's like he is number one miss what going vertical and vertical marriage is about is the priority of setting God as the one that gets our highest honor. I'm not sure I could honor you that well if I did not honor God first because he gives me the ability to see through his eyes. Yeah we talked about it many times here, but it Deuteronomy 6 is a picture well honor looks like he says here oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts in these writing that the parents and so I think as parents and as a husband and wife itself. That's where we start.

It's like we can't pass this on to our kids if we don't first possess it. So I know in our home. Starting the first day we got married we said a routine which we were doing before we got married a say in the first thing I do every day.

This sit we got to dig into his word and start their talk about that that practice in your own lives. Thinking about when we first got married we both have these great times with God and then we had kids and I was thinking how to do this anymore, but I do remember thinking I just have to figure out what this looks like with little kids all around me and our kids get up pretty early and I'm not a morning person so it's hard for me to get up in the morning when they were little, but I would end up doing is like hey guys, I may have my time with Jesus now in sight have my Bible out and sometimes I would even read it out loud and I gave them little notebooks themselves, they said, scribbling in her play and I didn't get the time that I wanted that I used to get that I have now, but I think it's good for kids to see that that's a regular rhythm in our lives. At that time with God is important and now I think all my kids now nixing my Bible and the table as I go through every year is my sustenance as my food.

It's what gets me through every day is guesswork. I know I came to Christ in college I was the first thing my disciple or my mentor taught me was daily time in the word remember him to send me who relating wrote much in the church but he says, a man of God is a man of God's word and so it's been a daily discipline of my life to spend time in his word, on the other part for me that's helped me honor God as worship music details either listening to it or you know me and grabbed my guitar and sing it.

A member during covert. I was up in my little studio and I grabbed my guitar and I'm singing blessed hello Thomas Sue, which means honor the Lord. Psalm 103 and you come running up the stairs I call his readers know what else of the house. I was sorry to have my private little time with God. You know you covered it in there and we start singing and again it's that foundation that I think is husbands and wives, and often is moms and dads we push that aside, not because we don't want to do it.

But our life gets so hectic.

It's like it's written in pencil on our calendar rather than pin like the kids or the schedules can be come so urgent that we miss the most important.

You know what I've been a little bit convicted of lately is that it tells you on your phone on my phone.

It tells me how much screen time I've had for the week. Is anyone else depressed by that number when they see, if you haven't checked, you need to check it because they like seven hours thinking seven hours with dad or just in a day. You know why… Four hours. You should govern our lawyers. The thing I read the Bible often on you version on my phone so all those hours. What I'm doing though I wish it was.

I wish you is that you do you that I think today we have some really easy tools to make it easier to listen to the word even if you're driving you can listen to the word here, and you know we ducked at this before, but when our oldest son CJ was born I started that Friday fastens a pray all day and fast from food on Fridays for the boys and their wives and their grandkids and even that routine is a way to say every week I honor God first. I bend the knee to say you God are the most valuable person and relationship in my whole life and I think I would just say to a dead listen right now that is the way to lead and walk with God.

It's gotta show up on your calendar.

There's one more thing that you do that I really like you have always been really good at memorizing Scripture thinking start doing in college started I had to start remember it the way you do. I remember our boys wasting so much Scripture, because you had it memorized. I could tell they thought that was amazing and I say oh yeah, he looks so much and they were kind of impressed by that but I love that you memorize that and I did too, but you can memorize it way quicker, but I think that's important to have God's word on our hearts. I've often felt like I've even asked NFL players like what would happen if you didn't know playbook and every guy looks at me like I'm cut I'm cut that day. You know, if I walked into a meeting or walked into a season, and I didn't know a play call.

I did know what my responsibility was because I hadn't studied my book, they just look at you like all this is whatever you and if a player any any athlete in any sport has to know you have to know the playbook. You can't be in the game. You won't be on this team anymore. I thought manna for honor God with our lives and we don't know his word. That's it's greater than a playbook is more than a playbook, but it is his word that reveals who he is who we are what is called us to do and so memorizing that is an extension of I am going to honor him first and then lived that out. It's one thing to be hearers of the word and those to be doers are shared on here before but remember the story of when one of my sons was asked about his faith. What I had done to stoke that in him like hey what did your dad do to create the fire that we see in you, and long story short only going to details, but hearing him say the only thing I remember my dad doing as he lived it when I was thinking he'd remember Bible studies or trips we took all he did was say. I watched him be a man of God. I thought that's what our kids are looking for. They are watching us 24 seven again is not a legalistic thing the Sam to get the word every morning because I have to, it's because I I have to. I want to if I have to get up early before the kids are up at 4 AM I'm kidding maybe 5 AM to get up early to do whatever it takes to make sure my connection with God is saying you are the most valuable person relationship in my life and I just add a quick little footnote to this. I've had a lot of women asked me what can I do to get my husband to be spiritually hungry or spend time in the word or disciple or children. I can't tell you how often have women coming up and asking those questions. I can tell you it doesn't work it doesn't work when you compare your husband to someone else. You never did that I did when you slide a book over to them. Oh, you never did that the other things not to do because I did them but I think Freda pray let his block be his block, but modeling modeling for him to do it because you're doing it is a form of manipulation that just love Jesus talk to him about it he hears every prayer that you are praying that I would say as a husband who's married to you who did that your walk with God inspired me your critique, put it up with a book by the toylike.

As you know, I sit there and read it as he didn't never work. It didn't inspired all the mail that I walk in the kitchen and see you on the deck on your knees with your hands up praising God. When I walked through and see you outlining again in your one year Bible. It just made me go that mean I can read the Bible out loud to you when I why you do it everyday car you did it yesterday would drive in your yeah this morning I thought it was like she's get a reader one year Bible out loud.

She loved to do that but I mean I would just say to the wives, listening. That's like that is motivating to us as men to watch your walk with God, not in a condemning way, but an inspiring way inspires us how you encourage Mandy think that's important. I know for me and every man I know we want to do better in this area, but the bottom line is I need his power. I need his presence I need is peace and the only way you get. That is to meet with them honor him first bend in the first to God, and that'll create an atmosphere of honor in your home. It starts with mom and dad for me. It starts with me if it's not happening to me. Good luck that is going to flow into the family, but if it is happening to me. There's a great chance it is going to flow and create an environment and a home of honor, what would it be like if the neighbor kids came over our home because they couldn't even explain why they just they felt honored. They felt valuable. They felt seen. That's what honor this. I think it's where our homes become a magnet to everyone walks in that they feel loved. They feel seen her in a field.

I'm thinking that maybe some of us need to post in our home. Romans 1210 which says outdo one another in showing honor and how would our homes be different if that was the goal.

If, as parents and as siblings we and our children were working to outdo one another in showing honor to each other at such a powerful concept that David and Wilson have been talking about today and Dave mentioned a book called the blessing, giving the gift of unconditional love and acceptance. It's a book we got in our family life today resource Center. You might want to consider. This is a book to read together as a family or as moms and dads to think about how you can bless your children and how honor can be more a part of your family dynamic go to family life today.com for more information on the book the blessing you can order it from us on one family life today.com or call to order at one 800 FL today at one 803 586-329-1800 F as in family L as in life and in the word today.

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David and Wilson talk about how honor in the home is a lot like a thermostat. It really sets the emotional temperature of our homes will continue the conversation about honor tomorrow.

Hope you can be with us for that on behalf of our host statement and Wilson on Bob team.

See you next time for another edition of family life today.

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