READING: 1 Chronicles 17-19, John 19:31-20:18
I suspect that many of us who are pastors don’t think enough about what God has done in us to make us a leader. In fact, it may be that most believers too quickly forget where they were before God intervened in their lives. The result is that we appreciate grace far too little, and we take too much for granted.
In today’s Old Testament reading, it’s the word of the Lord to David via Nathan that makes me think of this issue. I realize I’m picking up only the beginning of Nathan’s statement, but it’s hardly insignificant: “Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel’” (1 Chron 17:7).
So much in this text grabs my attention. First, it was God who picked David. The Creator chose him. Second, God called him out the shepherd’s field, knowing that His plan for the shepherd was something mightier. Third, David would be God’s leader over His chosen people. He who had been a shepherd of sheep would lead God’s people, not because he was worthy but because God had chosen and called him to this task.
From shepherd boy to king—that’s a marker of the grace of God.
PRAYER: “Lord, remind me that I’m not worthy to be Your child . . . or a leader among Your people.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Chronicles 20-22, John 20:19-21:14
