1 Samuel 31: Honor

"When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan.  When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there."

1 Samuel 31:11-12

Saul, wounded in battle, chooses to fall on his own sword instead of being run-through by the Philistines.  His sons and all his men perish with him.  The Philistines decapitate Saul's dead body and hang it up along with his sons on the wall of Beth-shan, bringing even further disgrace to his name.  However, the people of Jabesh-gilead rescue the king's remains and give him a proper funeral pyre.  Even though his kingship didn't display honor, and he died in a dishonorable fashion, the men of Jabesh choose to bring honor to his name.  Honor is the fifth core value of the US Army.

What is honor?  How must we act in order to be considered honorable?  What can we do to bring honor to other people (such as honoring our fathers and mothers)?  Honor can be defined as living according to virtue.  Put a different way, honor is the action-verb form of the noun virtue, or the adjective used to describe someone who makes the verb-form a part of his daily life.

In the case of Saul, his kingship and his death were sorely lacking in honor.  He failed to follow the will of his Father - failed to do what was virtuous and right.  He regularly acted with malice and strife, and generally lived a hard-hearted and selfish life.  Even his death shows his selfishness - cowardly begging his bodyguard to kill him so that he won't die by enemy hands, and then killing himself when his bodyguard refuses.  Yet, a portion of his people choose to honor their undeserving, deceased king.  They risk their lives to do what is right for their king's body.  They treat Saul with respect, even though he doesn't deserve it.  They honor their king.

Question of the Day:

Do you walk through life with virtue as your focus for all that you do?  Do you treat yourself and others with respect?  Do you constantly seek God's will for your life and obey it?  Do you try to find ways to help others around you with all their needs?  Do you give of yourself in order to benefit others?  Do you do what's right, even when nobody is looking?  Do you risk your own safety or security in order to benefit others?  If you do these things, you are honorable and you honor others.

Prayer of the Day:

Lord, help me to become a more honorable person.  Help me to focus more each day on the needs of others, and less on my own desires.  Guide me towards the path You have set aside for me, and help me choose to stay on it no matter how treacherous it becomes.  Take my heart, and make it model Your beauty and grace.  Prevent me from acting dishonorably towards myself or any other.  Amen.