Before The Leading

Scripture: From you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel…Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him…Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 2:6, 3:13, 4:1

Observation: King Herod’s wise men quote to him from the Old Testament, to explain the rumors of a king who was just born. They say that this baby will be a ruler who will shepherd Israel. But the first two things we see this Ruling Shepherd doing are being baptized and being tested. Before a disciple is called, before a lesson is taught, before a sickness is healed, there is obedience and testing. The obedience was necessary for Christ to identify with sinful people in need of cleansing. The testing was needed to demonstrate that Jesus identified with God as a sinless man.

Application: God has called me to leadership. But before the leading, there is being led. Jesus was led to the Jordan to obey through baptism. Jesus was led into the wilderness to endure testing. What must I also be led in before I lead others? It seems the twin lessons here are obedience and Spirit-powered endurance. Are there areas where I am not obeying? Are there areas where I am not enduring through Spirit’s power? One area for me is the area of prayer. A friend joked with me this week about how I always say I don’t pray enough. He thought that was funny, but I thought, “When does that stop being something I say?” Prayer—specifically praying for God to bring people to Christ through me and through our church—is something I need to do in obedience, and will require Spirit-powered endurance. Today I will build into my weekly schedule specific time devoted towards prayer for the mission of God to succeed in me and our church. I think right now, the Spirit is telling me 40 minutes a week to correspond to the 40 days of prayer Jesus prayed.

Prayer: God, help me pray. Let me be led by the Spirit in prayer before I lead others. Let me do this in obedience and Spirit-powered endurance.