For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Rom 1:21-25
Honor is doxázō to glorify, or magnify.
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! Psalm 34:1-3
In this context, I prefer the word Magnify. We honor and glorify what we magnify in our minds and lives. What we magnify sets the course or the trajectory of our lives here on earth.
I often explain the concept of “trajectory” to the adolescents with whom I work at Holston Home for Children. Thoughts drive behavior. Behavior is a good predictor of how their day will pan out. If they are hyperactive or irritated I tell them I can predict they will be grounded before the end of the day. Grounded means they can’t talk to other children and must sit alone at a table where they are permitted to read, write, color, or draw. “Change your trajectory and prove me wrong,” I say. Sometimes they do. More often they self-sabotage and get grounded. I ask them why they insist on digging themselves deeper while piling dirt on their heads. I’m not being mean. We’ve all been there.
It’s a symptom of the Fall
Adam and Eve went from magnifying God to magnifying themselves when they realized they were naked in Genesis 3. The trajectory of all mankind was set.
It’s not hard to look out into the world today and see the abundance of foolishness unless of course your own heart has been darkened. In that case, the Bible says you are a fool. Fools are often spoiled, entitled children in need of discipline. Heb 12:5-8
Recently, my son pointed out that it was an old people’s cliché to call student protestors at Columbia University “spoiled entitled children”. They are demanding humanitarian aid while they persecute Jewish students and violate the rights of everyone else on campus. In any case, I stood corrected. Demand political correctness and accommodate willful sin if you must. In my mind these are
“Stupid Babies”
Paul explains this is because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Their trajectory was set the moment they refused to magnify God and magnified themselves in His place. Every single problem that we have in this world flows from this. It is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Ecc 1:9 Man senses truth exists and thinks he understands. But he hasn’t a clue. Ecc 311, Isa 55 Nothing will change until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord Phil 2:10-11 In the meantime, the trajectory into darkness remains unchanged Isaiah 60:2-3 Shame, calamity, and dishonor await those who magnify themselves against me! Says the Lord Psalm 35:26
But
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:15
Don’t be a stupid baby.
Adjust your trajectory.
Magnify the Lord!
It’s that simple.
