January 11, 2019

PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS

Baruch 1:11-12

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his son Belshazzar, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. And the Lord will give us strength and enlighten our eyes, and we will live under the shelter of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shelter of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find mercy in their sight.

Personal Challenge

Our political climate in our country has become very divisive and polarized. We have two parties that are constantly at each other's throat and willing to sacrifice the needs of their constituents to achieve their personal agendas. This division and polarization has also become pervasive amongst the citizens of our country. We are reminded here, by Baruch, that God commanded His children to pray for the king of Babylon and his son, to pray that they would have long lives. Why is this significant for us today? Because God's people had every reason to hate their new king. He had conquered their promised land and carried them off to exile in Babylonia. They are now living under his tyrannical rule, his expectations of their worship of him, and his ownership of them. Isn't this what we are also called to do? To pray for our leaders whether we voted for them or not? To support and encourage them whether we agree with them or not? It grieves me to see so many people jumping on the bandwagon of divisiveness and polarization. If we desire to live in our land with strength from our God and enlightenment in our eyes then we should pray for our leaders. If we do not like the ones that we have we have the ability to vote them out of office and rally our friends to join us, but we must start doing this positively and not negatively. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!