Those Who Lead

Dating back to Moses, God has always provided  an individual to lead his people.  The bible tells us that Joshua was the right-hand man of Moses, which made him a natural successor to lead the people after Moses died in Joshua 1.  A good leader makes leading look easy.  The real truth is leadership is complex and difficult.  Take for instance when Moses came down from the mountain and discovered the children of Israel dancing around their newly fashioned idol (the golden calf) in Exodus 32.  Moses knew of the command of God not to worship any graven image, therefore he knew this would anger God, so he took immediate action.  First, he threw the tablets containing the 10 Commandments on the ground and broke them.  Then he took the golden calf, melted in down and ground it into powder; putting it into their water, and made them drink it.  Finally, he executed God’s justice on the people.  In Exodus 32:26, the Levites strapped on their swords, and Moses instructed them to go from one end of the camp to the other  each killing his brother, friend, and neighbor. 3,000 died. As difficult as this was, Moses did this because he was following the instructions of God.  True leaders of God must lead as they are instructed regardless of how they feel about it. This makes it very difficult, and sometimes the directive of God even breaks their hearts; but that is the only way you can lead Gods’ people.  Today in the church it is no different.  God instructed us to choose men to be elders, according to his instructions for the purpose of leading his people.  They too like the leaders of old, are often thrust into difficult positions by the people of God; and they must ignore the pain of their hearts and obey God.  So, if leadership looks easy to you, and you only see leadership as “being in charge,”  look again.  God calls his leaders to be “servants” who must give account for those they shepherd.  If that sounds like an easy job, then stay tuned to next week, as we conclude our examination of those who stand in the gap, for the people of God.  Blessings.

​~Lamar