those in authority

Today we hear about leaders in our reading from the One Year Bible. CLICK HERE for the OT reading, and CLICK HERE for the NT reading.

In the OT, we listen to Moses's father in law giving him advice on how to take care of his people better. Through a clever system of delegation, he teaches Moses not to carry the whole load by himself. This is good advice.

In the NT, we hear about the leaders from the other side of things. Jesus tells us two things about leaders. First, He tells us not to lord it over people if we become leaders ourselves. Don't go around expecting people to call you by officious titles, don't expect the best seats, don't do things just for the praise of people. Second, He tells us, very importantly, that even though we should not follow the example of bad leaders, we should obey them.

This is good advice for us today. We hear lots of stories about sex abuse in government, in the church, in the entertainment industry. We sometimes hear troubling things from our leaders, which make it difficult to respect them. But Jesus's teaching helps us know what to do today. Follow the laws (as long as they don't violate morality). Obey our government. And, most importantly, pray for those in leadership. As the Moses story taught us, it's not an easy job, especially when you do it right.

God, thank You for teaching us about leaders.