A Leader who Shepherds

 There are all kinds of leaders in this world. There are tyrants who force people to do what they want them to do. There are benevolent dictators who are in charge, but they do what is best for the people. There are strong leaders and weak leaders. The truth is that leaders are very important for any group of people. A bad leader will bring harm, but the right kind of leader will bring peace and growth.

This is true for the local church. Every body of Christ needs the right leader for the church to prosper. Moses knew this was true for the people of God in his day. (Numbers 27:17) He was about to die, so he asked God to give the Israelites someone who would guide them wherever they went and lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord would not be like sheep without a shepherd. God heard his request and gave them Joshua, who was very good at shepherding God's people.

No leader or group knows exactly what is going to happen in the future. The leader has to be ready to lead them wherever they need to go to do God's will. It can be very difficult, so the leader has to stay in constant touch with the Lord, following His directions. Also, there are always battles to be fought. The devil and his demons are the ones we fight. A good leader will be engaging in spiritual warfare by prayer and the Word of God all the time and lead his people to do the same thing.

However, the greatest quality of God's kind of leader is being a shepherding leader. The leader needs to know how to feed the people from God's Word and how to teach them to find rest in Jesus. He must care more for other people than he cares for himself. Yes, he has needs that must be met, but he must put others first like the Bible says. Then, the whole community of the Lord will be healthy and growing well.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 28-30.