MARCH 10 READING…NUMBERS 15-16 & 2 TIMOTHY 4
The sad theme of today’s reading is that rebellion and abandonment are realities in leading God’s people. I don’t know of any pastor, who has served for any amount of time, that has not experienced both of these. Most pastors I know are humble people, who do what they do because they have God’s call on their lives. There are many who have never pastored who seem to know how to pastor better than the God called pastor. I say this not to imply that the pastor is not accountable to the Lord and to His people, they are. But there is a huge difference between being accountable, and open rebellion and intentional destruction of a pastor’s ministry by those who are destructive and self centered by nature.
Mose and Aaron faced open rebellion to their leadership, and to the very laws that God shared through them. Because these men were doing what God commanded them to do, this rebellion was not against them, but against God. This is a dangerous place for anyone to be, in open rebellion against God. Koran, Dothan, Abiram and their entire families were swallowed alive by the earth opening. The Lord used this as a warning against rebellion…which the Bible calls the same as witchcraft. In 2 Timothy 4 Paul reminds us that the time would come when people would reject sound doctrine, and go after fables. He instructs us to remain faithful to God’s Word, and to continue to share the Gospel message that saves. Paul closes this book by sharing that he has been abandoned and hurt by Demas and Alexander. But Paul wanted them also to know that the Lord is always faithful…and those who love the Lord and genuinely serve Him are also faithful.
Please share your thoughts.
TOMORROW’S READING…NUMBERS 17-18 & JOHN 1