Honoring God

“And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.”

(Genesis 18:1-5 ESV)

 

I find the above passage quite intriguing. It fascinates me because, as the Lord appears to him, Abraham offers to wash his feet, shade in which to sit, and bread to eat. He does so that the Lord might be refreshed before he moved on.

 

On the surface, this seems insignificant. We look at it as a mere example of hospitality, which is certainly commendable. But this is God we’re talking about.

 

Did he really need his feet to be washed? Did he really need shade in which to sit? Did he really need bread to eat? And did he really need to be refreshed?

 

As we think about this, the obvious answer is “no.” The Lord didn’t need anything from Abraham. Everything, after all, belongs to him. Everything that Abraham offered had been given to him by God. And if he truly needed anything, the Lord was perfectly capable of providing it for himself.

 

Not to mention that God is all-powerful. There is nothing that he cannot do. And this negates any need on his part.

 

Yet, as we read on in this passage, we find that the Lord graciously receives Abraham’s service. He graciously receives these acts of hospitality. He receives the calf that Abraham had prepared and set before him and the two angels who were with him, along with curds and milk.

 

The question I ask myself, as I read this passage, is this: Why did Abraham offer this service to the Lord? Why did he offer to God his hospitality? Did he truly believe that the Lord needed that which he brought?

 

In all reality, as the Lord stood before him, Abraham understood that he needed none of these things. He understood that there’s nothing he had to offer that the Lord needed. He was, rather, honoring him in the only way that he could. He took from the resources God had entrusted to him, and served him as he was able.

 

The same, you see, is true of us. The Lord does not need anything that we bring to him. He doesn’t need anything that we offer him. He doesn’t need our offerings that we drop into the plate each week. He doesn’t need our worship or our prayers. Nor does he need our acts of service.

 

Without any of these things, God lacks nothing. With these acts of honor and service, he gains nothing. And with or without any of these things, God is still God.

 

All that we offer is his to begin with. It’s something that he has entrusted to us. And if he truly needed anything, he could provide it for himself.

 

This is true even of the ministry in which we engage. Does the Lord need my preaching and teaching? Absolutely not. There are many others who do a far better job of it than I. Not to mention that the Lord needs none of us.

 

It’s quite humbling to realize this reality. But how true it is. All that we have finds its origin in him. We offer to him only that which is already his. And, as we offer it back to him, we do not satisfy a need that he possesses.

 

We simply honor him in the only way that we can. We give to him only what we have to give. God, however, graciously receives the honor we offer him. He graciously receives the gifts that we bring. And he graciously receives our acts of service.

 

We do not deserve to have our gifts received by him. We do not deserve to have our acts of service received by him. Yet he does so. And he does so out of his gracious love and mercy.