I Thes 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
The word honour stood out to me as I read this verse. I have been doing a lot of thinking about honour . I began a quest to honour the Lord on the Sabbath. I wasn't sure how or why, I just felt I should. It wasn't long before I began to feel that I was coming up short of the honour I wanted Him to have. Then I realized I could never honour Him enough.
I had picture in my mind about honour. It was of a brass pot that needed to be polished. If polished some, rather than just ignored and let go , it was honoured. It could be honoured some . The degree of honour to the pot could be determined by the amount of polishing.
Perhaps abstaining from watching T.V. on the Sabbath is viewed as honour unto Him. I hope so. If I set aside time specifically for Christian fellowship , I think He might view this as honour.
To begin to think of possessing ones self as a vessel in sanctification and honour might mean that you hold your self back from lust, to honour Him.
I could never fathom myself honouring the LORD on the Sabbath when I had a very low opinion of myself. Some how even now it seems like a stretch. Like someone at sometime soon is going to come and say, "YOU ? You are honouring the LORD ? Who told you that you would be able to honour Him ?"
Maybe that is why it is hard for people to possess their vessels in sanctification and honour. They don't realize the honour their obedience would give to Him. Also maybe they just don't realize they are to be honoured. As one who desires to serve the LORD and worship Him only, their intent should be honoured , at least by fellow believers.
just a note: honor in the Bible is spelled honour . Since I was speaking in Biblical terms I used the Bible's spelling.