Two things jumped out at me today, one in the OT passage, and one in the NT.
Reading today's OT passage in Isaiah made me appreciate what King Hezekiah said in yesterday's passage even more.
He said...
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discourage because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." 2 Chronicles 32:7-8
I love that passage because it reminds me that no matter what our battle, no matter who our adversary is or what tribulation we are going through, we can be strong and courageous because the Lord our God is with us, what can man do to me?
But thinking of it in the context of today's passage made the speech of Hezekiah and the faith of the people even more amazing. Why?
Ahaz was Hezekiah's father and he had been a wicked king. And during his reign Isaiah prophesied....
"The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah - he will bring the king of Assyria." Isaiah 7:17
The northern kingdom was taken into exile by the Assyrians. And in 2 Chronicles, who was getting ready to fight the people of Judah? The king of Assyria.
I don't know about you, but I would've been quaking in my boots.
But Hezekiah did not. In 2 Kings we read his prayer to God and God answered him, and Hezekiah knew that God would be faithful. He knew it, he stand firm, and he encouraged others to do the same. Amazing leadership by example!
Out NT passage is really an inspiring passage. The whole chapter, like Jody showed us yesterday, is a love chapter. MacArthur said that 1 Corinthians is a love chapter in doctrine, and Acts 20 is a love chapter in action.
And then MacArthur goes on to discuss Paul and his effective ministry and that the best way to summarize leadership is in the word example.
the reason Paul was so successful was he was an example. There was no credibility gap between what he said and what he was, and people patterned their lives after him. He said, "Be followers of me as I am of Christ." The Christian life boils down to example and Biblical leadership is example. And the thing that made Paul what he was was the example, not of his methods but of his life. And if you want to know how to be successful in the ministry, or you want to know how to be successful in building whatever particular objective you have in mind, it is as simple, spiritually speaking as being the right kind of person. (emphasis mine)
Paul saw his ministry in four ways - first to God (serving the Lord), to the saved (teaching the church), to the lost (evangelizing the lost) and to himself (sacrifice of self and self will).
But what jumped out to me the most is what he said about being a servant of God. Now maybe it's just me, but I've been thinking about this servant thing all wrong. Well, not necessarily wrong, but incomplete. I've always thought of serving God as doing things for Him, humbling myself and serving others, putting others needs ahead of my own.
And yes, being a servant is all of those things.
But I missed the obvious part.
Now the mentality of a servant is this, I obey orders. That's a servant. Therefore, the mentality of Christian ministry is obedience, isn't it. God gives the orders and I carry them out.
Seriously. So simple I can't believe I haven't truly seen it before.
Being a servant of God means, obviously, that He is my Master. And requires obedience. Obedience. Christian ministry is obedience to God. Christian leadership is obedience to God. Christian example is obedience to God.
And not just outward obedience, but inner too. The spirit of obedience! A LOVE for obedience! Everything flows out of that.
If we are obedient to God we will be studying the scripture, supporting each other, being stewards of the Gospel, preaching to the lost and sacrificing our lives.
A servant heart is a heart for obedience.
Tomorrow's passage: Isaiah 9-10, Ephesians 1
3 comments:
So true Tammy!! To LOVE obedience. I still think so often that I can CHOOSE to be obedient or not, but that's missing the mark. I am to be an obedient servant. Great post!
"Thinking we can CHOOSE to be obedient is missing the mark." I think that is probaby one of the most profound truths!
It really goes back to that whole explanation of the bondslave agreement in the OT ~ choosing to serve and obey for life because living for the Master is better than being "free."
Wow! Totally missed that as well. Thanks for that - "A servant heart is a heart for obedience."
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