During the recent Olympics, I had occasion to watch again the best motion picture ever made about the Games, Chariots of Fire. It’s a real-life story (though the script takes some liberties with details) about two British track stars — Eric Liddell, a devout Presbyterian known as “the Flying Scotsman,” and Harold Abrahams, a Jewish student at Cambridge University — competing in the 1924 Games in Paris.

The story of Chariots deals in part with Liddell wrestling with the consequences of his decision not to run in his signature event, the 100 meters, because it took place on a Sunday. Finally, one of his teammates bows out of the 400 meters, scheduled for a Thursday, so Liddell can run in his place. Liddell, not known for his proficiency in the 400, proceeds to set a world record and win a gold medal.

In the film, an American athlete named Jackson Scholz hands Liddell a note just before the 400 meters begins. (In real life, it was a trainer for the British track team, not Scholz, who passed the note to Liddell as he was leaving his hotel to go to the stadium.) On the note is written a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30: “Those who honor Me I will honor.”

How do we honor God? The Psalmist writes, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me, and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23). Certainly we honor God when we worship Him in songs of praise as He desires (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 13:15). But equally important — perhaps even more so — is “ordering our conduct aright” according to the instructions of God’s word.

Jesus expressed the concept this way: “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26). To serve Christ is to honor Him, and we serve Him by following Him — that is, by acting after His pattern and example. The word “disciple” literally means “one who learns from another,” and if we have truly learned from Jesus, we will do as He did: “where I am, there My servant will be also.” God will honor those who serve Christ by following Him.

We also honor God by being good stewards of the blessings He has provided. “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9). This certainly means honoring God with our material means (2 Corinthians 9:5-8; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). But it also means honoring Him with the talents He has instilled in us: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8).