October 11 - Incredible Credibility

 Read today’s texts first: Nehemiah 5,6; Psalm 146; Luke 24

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

If you can’t walk the talk you will soon lose the people who are supposed to be walking behind you! 

Nehemiah is one of the best examples in the Old Testament of a consistently effective leader. How did he manage to convince the other leaders in Judah to not only stop extorting land and exorbitant tax from their fellow Jews, but to actually return what they had taken (5:12)?

The answer follows in a description of Nehemiah’s leadership by example.  He refused to receive the perks, the properties or the wages due him even when he became governor.  He not only lived with less, he took care of those who had less than he had (5:14-19).  Now that is incredible credibility!

It saddens me when I see political leaders campaign for lower taxes and fiscal restraint and then vote themselves a pay increase as soon as they are elected.  If you can’t walk the talk you will soon lose the people who are supposed to be walking behind you!

An even greater travesty is to see that kind of extortion in the church, where some prosperity teachers convince their flock that their thousand dollar suits and million dollar homes are signs of their spirituality.  Our New Testament readings of the life of Jesus show how far they’ve strayed from His example.

Jesus was able to inspire His apostles to give up everything, even their own lives, because He led by example.  He was certainly entitled to take what He deserved as the Son of God but He left it all behind to show us what real leadership is all about.

When my financial advisor discusses my limited retirement options with me, I remind him that God has always provided for me and my family in the past and will continue to do so into eternity.  My beautiful mother-in-law, Helen, pastored her whole life and continued to care for her flock in her retirement home up to 98 years of age.  She never owned a home other than a sod house they built with their own hands as homesteaders, but God made her rich beyond anything this world can offer.

“Lord, help me to follow Nehemiah, Helen, and Your example, and trust You for my provision today and for the rest of my life!”