TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY APRIL 8, 2015.
LEADERSHIP
To guide by direction or by example.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1.
In Hebrews 12, the author likens living the Christian life to running a race. He is challenging us as believers to be leaders and to step out with confidence and run our Christian race with determination and endurance doing all we can to further the good news of the gospel. As believers we run the race by faith that is founded in believing God is who He says He is and will do what He says. He says we have a great crowd of witnesses to lead us and encourage us. He lists these leaders of the past, one by one, the great heroes of faith from centuries past in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
He talks about the great faith of people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, David and Samuel. They lived by faith and were led by their faith in God. They demonstrated their great faith by living in obedience to God and giving honor and glory to God giving us reason to follow their leadership.
People like these patriarchs of old, who followed God, serve to lead us today in our race of faith to keep us encouraged to persevere in the right direction. God expects us to follow their example of faith. We will have to struggle against sin and endure hardship just as they did. All these leaders were commended for their faith. If we are faithful in our Christian race of life, we too will be commended by God for our faith.
God also expects us to honor our leaders. Our constant study of God’s Word is a way that we honor the patriarchs of the scripture as we develop our knowledge of the Bible and grow in our faith. Have you noticed the respect that young men and women who are serving in the armed services have today when they are in the public? They have learned to respect those who have trained them and set a good example to lead them in defending our country. Those in leadership deserve our respect unless they are leading us to go against God’s leadership.
Leadership for running the race of life must begin in the home. It is only by faith that parents can be successful leaders in their home. Parents are to be the encouragers of faith in their children’s lives. This requires spending quality time daily with their children and setting a Godly example for them to follow. Parents have the God-given responsibility for spiritual leadership in their home.
We will tell you again, our family had dinner together every night. There was no television or radio on, no telephone calls or other distractions. It was a time to communicate and to bond. The two of us still do this every day although our children are gone and on their own.
Spiritual leadership is lacking today in every area of life. We lack leadership that honors God at the government level, in our schools, in our workplace and, most importantly, in our families and even our churches. Without leadership that honors God our society and families will fail, and they are failing today.
Our memory verse for this week is found in Ecclesiastes 12:1.
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them.
Help me to learn daily from the experiences the patriarchs left for me in Your Word. Enable me to be the spiritual leader I need to be for my family. Help our family to communicate our faith to others that we meet. Give us the courage to tell them that they need You in their hearts so that they can spend an eternity with You in heaven.
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