Daily Devotional – R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Our scripture for the Daily Devotional today is taken from Matthew 21: 33-41. Aretha Franklin had it right in her song. She was calling for a little respect from her man. How do you respect the name of God? Do you show His name reverence? The jewish people do not even say the name of God in respect for Him! Yaweh.

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

The second commandment laid out in the law of Moses is to respect and honor God. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Exodus 20: 7. Do you feel that hollow feeling in your gut every time you hear that socially acceptable “OMG!”

I am offended by those that say it in front of me. I do not know who their god is that they are always calling on them, but my God is the Almighty. My God is All Powerful and the only true God, so are they referring to my God? My God has called for R-E-S-P-E-C-T and to be honored.

Jesus, the son of God wasn’t respected when He came from heaven to walk among us. As he laid out in the parable above, we, His prize took it upon ourselves to murder the Father’s son for His inheritance. 

I want to honor God in all that I do. I want to humbly come before God and acknowledge His Kingship and Kingdom! 

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you, Jesus, that You were sent to be the slain lamb on the altar. You laid down Your inheritance so that we could partake in it. Forgive me for not always giving You the honor and misusing Your name. I want to acknowledge You as the Lord above all and worship You in a respectful and worthy manner. 

In Jesus name
Amen