Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – June 7, 2014
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law.… He is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees. Deuteronomy 17:18–19
No one is above the law, and certainly not above God’s law. From the earliest origins of government, God instructed the rulers to write, read, follow, and obey His Word. God knew the tremendous wisdom and character needed by a leader to govern fairly and effectively. Integration of God’s principles is developed by lifelong habits. The more you rise in power and responsibility, the more you need to understand the wisdom of God.
You cannot lead like Christ without comprehending and applying Scripture. Without the influence of the Bible, your decisions become shallow, sentimental, and self-serving. Decisions untethered from the truth contribute to moral decay and cultural confusion. You are on solid, historical ground in expecting a biblical worldview from your local, state, and national leaders. Do not expect a state church, but expect a state influenced by the church.
Our expectations of government leaders should be grounded in God’s eternal Word. He is the gold standard for conduct and character. What do your state and national senators and representatives believe about the Word of God? Where do your mayor and councilmen stand? Your leaders are a reflection of you. The best minds our culture has to offer are anemic without the filter of faith on their thinking. Intelligence without intimacy with the Almighty, leads to pride and self-rule. The Bible is our baseline for belief and behavior.
We are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Therefore, can we expect our political leaders to represent their people with a biblical understanding, and to decree laws based on biblical standards? Yes, otherwise the logical conclusion to no biblical standard for belief, is a messy morality.
We cease to be a God-fearing nation when everyone does what he or she thinks is right; someone has to be wrong for right to mean anything. May God save us from wisdom that leaves out instruction from the Lord’s law.
“Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?’” (Mark 12:24).
Prayer: How can I be an exceptional student of Scripture? Whom can I elect to government whose heart is governed by God?
Related Readings: Joshua 1:8; Jeremiah 13:10; John 2:22; Acts 18:28
Post/Tweet today: Christians do not expect a state church, but we do expect a state influenced by the church. #wisdomhunters
Taken from the June 7th reading in Boyd’s 365-day devotional book, “Seeking Daily the Heart of God vol. 2” … http://bit.ly/Tv6y9a
Free eBook when you sign up 5 friends for the free email devotional…https://www.wisdomhunters.com/invite-your-friends/
© 2014 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
Comments are closed.
This is excellent, I needed this. A well taught lesson which clarifies a government lead by Christ. I pray this over our city and nation. Thank you for how you teach us through the Scriptures. We look forward to the Wisdom Hunters message each day.
Dear Ann~Thank you so much for your thoughtful response to the devotional, “Follow God’s Word”. We love to hear from our fellow wisdom hunters and are always so thankful when God speaks to them through the devotionals. It is All God and HE gets the Glory!
And Ann, thank you for praying over our city and nation, “One Nation Under God”!
I will make sure that Boyd receives your encouraging words and we look forward to hearing from you again.
Blessings to you and yours.
Believing and trusting~
Gwynne
Thank you for the relevancy of your message especially for today. I have this dilemma of where one’s choice begin and end in relation to God’s laws of love for Him and love for our fellowmen? I understand we need laws to keep order in the land, but to what extend are they going to be imposed without infringing on a persons’ choice to follow God’s laws or not? Does God coerce us into obeying Him through the laws of the land?
Dear Elizabeth~
Thank you so much for reaching out to us with these very thought-provoking questions. Wow! I must say your questions really made me think, pray and “dive” into the Word (and I thank you for that becuase I love any reason to soak up His Word!)
What I loved about this devotional was that is really stated God’s instructions, as well as the reason’s for those instructions, quite clearly: “…God instructed the rulers to write, read, follow, and obey His Word. God KNEW the tremendous wisdom and character needed by a leader to govern fairly and effectively.” And WHY?? Well, “without the influence of the Bible, your decisions become shallow, sentimental, and self-serving.” (Boy, is that ever true for not just our leaders BUT ALL OF US!)
So back to your question~ “Does God coerce us into obeying Him through the laws of the land?” (Again, great question,Elizabeth)
So, I went to His Word to try to answer this~ and my thoughts are that HE doesn’t seem to COERCE us into obeying Him through the laws of the land, but encourage us. (Although I must say there are some “heavy duty examples of “coercing” in the Old Testament…) And I found as HE encourages us, HE also gives us wise guidance and direction to back up that encouragement.
Last night I found myself “visiting” Colossians and throughout Colossians, Paul descibes the “Supremacy of Christ”, our ultimate authority.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:15-16
And then in Romans we learn about submitting to governing authorities (Romans 13:1-6). Again in Matt 17:24-28, through Peter’s example, Jesus shows us that although HE is the sovereign authority, cooperation with “authorities” and being a responsible citizen is important.
Goodness, Elizabeth, forgive me if I have gone on way too long. I would love to continue this conversation with you though, and hear more of what your thoughts are. I rejoice in the fact our Heavenly Father LOVES us so much that HE gives us guidance and discernment through His Word and through other believers.
Looking forward to hearing from you again! Thank you Elizabeth.
We are so very thankful that you are a fellow wisdom hunter!
Believing and trusting~
Gwynne
gwynne@wisdomhunters.com