Day 301: Spiritual Leaders

James 2; Jeremiah 23-24; Psalm 130

James points out how powerful our actions are. He says that to treat one person a certain way and another a different way, shows favoritism. This goes against God's love for all people. If we keep our faith to ourselves and do nothing to help others, we have not really been transformed by Jesus. If our faith is real, it should move us to act. It wouldn't have meant anything if Abraham had been told by God to sacrifice his son and Abraham responded, "God, do I really need to do that? I have faith in you, but can't I just tell you about it?" He became an example of active faith, obedience, and his example is still powerful today. I feel more alive, more in love with God, deeper in my faith now that I am doing things for others through a youth ministry and teaching. Because God's heart is for rescuing people, we do that through our actions, not just our words.

In Jeremiah, it's a big deal to God that his priests and prophets mislead the people. These leaders should be like shepherds, guiding the flock in the right direction, towards God and doing right. Instead, God is furious because they allow people to go on sinning, as if it is no big deal, they preach a message that is not from God, and they lead people away from The Lord. I think it is so important to have leaders, mentors, counselors in our lives who teach us about The Lord. But it is so important that we choose carefully those that we listen to. Just because a message sounds good or sounds holy, doesn't mean it is. God goes on to say that we need to check with others if the message we are hearing is truth or not, not just assume that it is. May we all be willing to examine the teachings of our spiritual leaders, to get input from others, to ensure that they are indeed preaching a message of The Lord.

The psalmist cries out from a sea of troubles and believes in the power and mercy of God to save him. May we learn to trust in The Lord and lean on him for our rescue. He is good and will not abandon us!