I was listening to Gerry Bershears this morning preaching on Romans Chapter 9 at a Resurgence function and he brought up the fact that God had told Rebecca that she'd have two sons and that the older would serve the younger, Esau serving Jacob. Most know that Jacob tricked Esau out of his inheritance and his name Jacob means "deceiver". Gerry went on and asked rhetorically if Jacob could be trusted then answered no. Could you trust Jacob to serve you if you were going into mission? No, he'd put a knife in your back to serve himself.
I started thinking then about how many times in the Bible that the enemy or the "unworthy" is the one being served by ones that God eventually prospers, blesses, or otherwise makes much of. When I start looking at God's perspective on this and then compare it to the secular saying "keep your friends close but your enemies closer" it makes alot more sense to me. Its much more difficult for our enemies to destroy us when we serve them. We cannot serve with our backs turned, open to the knife that would be inserted, but we have to face people head-on, with a humble spirit and out-stretched hands.
I'm a Land Surveyor and as such I've had many confrontations with "hostile" dogs. Rarely does a dog fail to retreat when you hold your ground or actually approach a dog with out-stretched hand and gentle voice and without fear. Most of them just can't handle it and they'll run the other way in their insecurity. We can see this proof of this phenomena in any group of particulars. As soon as a leader starts walking away and says "follow me" they'll start getting spears in their backs the same as a hostile dog will bite his leg once his back is turned. If a leader serves as an example, ignites a group and then walks with them into battle as a fellow servant the cause of the group is advanced and the leader lives a legacy.
Jesus please put me in step with sound leadership. Help me to ignite those whose vision smolders. Help me to love and serve my enemies. Help me be lost in you. Hallelujah!
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1 comment:
Awesome thoughts.
This goes with your title, advance mode, which I love. It seems like love always advances, like there is no retreat, no stopping point. It keeps advancing, hoping to be received, and if not, then killed. But never retreats. Open hands, not clutching hands. Serving hands, not seizing hands. Giving hands, not hoarding hands.
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