And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?”
Judges 13:16-17
LORD, I confess my tendency to look to honor people through whom You have bestowed blessings. Whether it is that person who sings that song at church that causes my eyes to well up or that preacher who opens Your Word up in a way that exposes not only my brokenness but also Your unfailing love, I immediately put them on a pedestal, especially when I compare them to those who do not. Though I know that You admonish me to give honor to those who deserve honor, I unfortunately have the tendency to over do it, exalting them to almost divine status. Though I see Your fingerprints on them, I must remember that it is Your fingerprints on the person, merely a reflection of Your glory and not Your glory. They are mirrors of Your splendor, bestowed upon me for a moment, that I might hungrily pursue the Source and not be caught up in the reflection. Help me today to remember that. Help me to love not only the vessel but more so the Bestower. Continue to remind me that it is You that gives gifts and blesses hearts in order that I might know You better and pursue You more intensely. Help me to remember to give You the praise due You in all things at all times that Christ might be glorified through the work that He is doing in this world by the Holy Spirit. Show me when I exalt the blessed over the Blesser in order that I might not only repent, but also give back to You the praise and worship due Your Name. I pray this in Jesus’s Name. Amen.