Yes it's my birthday today. a number of years ago today my parents were extraordinarily blessed with the incredible gift of my presence ;).
In the life of a normal person on the day of their birth they may decide to do something exciting or different, something out of the norm. For me, the most exciting thing to do is what I am endeavour to do everyday, spend time with God in His word.
It would also be normative to read something pleasant when one celebrates a birthday. For me, pleasant looks like the story of Samson in my reading program.
I suppose it serves me right for being behind in my commitment to read the bible in a year. If I were more consistent I would have been in Romans 14-15 this morning. It's the most basic fundamental reality: when we follow through with our commitments and responsibilities we end up where we need to be. But when we aren't consistent and focused on the direction that God has for us we end up following our own desires and that always leads to trouble.
For Samson it's clear that his commitments and responsibilities to lead well were not his focus. Instead his leadership was marked by vengeful, brutal, and sinful acts. God still used him, but I have to wonder, just as I wonder where I would be in my scripture reading today, where God could have taken him and the nation of Israel had he committed himself to his calling as a leader of God's people.
In Samson's time as leader among his people he never led them to God nor do you see him worship or direct glory to God. In every instance God worked through Samson in spite of his self-centred and sinful behaviour. How could God have been glorified and His people blessed had their leader been godly, had their leader been focused on his responsibilities rather than his vengeance and carnal desires.
As I reflect on my life and leadership today, yes on my birthday I tend to do that more than other days; there are three basic things that I want identified as instrumental to my journey of leadership:
- Prayer. I want to be man dedicated to being in the presence of God all the time. A picture of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 hangs on my wall at home: Pray without Ceasing! I want to set the example as a leader in my home and church to be people of prayer. We cannot be in relationship with God if we are not in communication with Him.
- Scripture: I desire to be a man of The Book. It is the revelation of God given to us to illuminate Him, to point to Jesus and help us to live lives dedicated to His glory. I want it be the most instrumental living, breathing book that captivates my life and leadership and guides me in my decisions and commitments.
- Relationships: What good am I to others or to God if my talents and gifts are used for only my selfish desires and my time is taken up being driven from relationships rather than toward them. I want my life to be identified as relational. I want people to know that I deeply care for them, that I love them.
There is no end to the struggles that we have with these three basic identifiers. That is certainly evident in the life of Samson because these three things aren't part of his story at all. It is also true of me. These are things that I struggle to build into my life and I have to work on them.
Prayer doesn't come easy to most and neither does scripture reading. Both take commitment and discipline. They require our passions and force of will.
Relationships seem at first glance to be something that everyone is good at but as experience has taught me, my first impression is seldom a perspective of truth. I struggle to show love and express care to those around me and I know others do too. Relationship is hard because we are so desperate to find self-satisfaction and joy when in reality we find both of those in service and care of others.
Ah, birthday thoughts.
What are things that you want your leadership and life to be identified with?
