NO BIBLE NO BREAKFAST DAILY BIBLE REFLECTIONS AND MORE

GOD’S PROVISION, MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY ( 1 CHRONICLES 28:8-20)

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is God’s provision, man’s responsibility. God’s provision is His divine action of providing or supplying the things needed for humanity’s sustenance and that which is required to glorify Him as a servant or worshipper. Man or humanity’s responsibility or obligation is to serve, worship and obey God all the days of their lives. Fundamentally, God has provided whatever is needed for our survival so that we can focus on our responsibility of providing stewardship over His creation as part of our obligation even as we dedicate our entire lives to doing His will. This was the purpose of the creation story in Genesis. For the purpose of our reflection, we shall deliberate on the theme “God’s provision, man’s responsibility” in the area of leadership using King Solomon’s commissioning as the builder of the Temple as our context.

Firstly, God does not call us into leadership without providing us that which is required for us to serve Him successfully. When God called David, He provided Him all that was required for Him to succeed as the King of Israel. King David had a strong relationship with God and understood His purpose as a leader. Similarly, when David was preparing to leave the scene or handover, he proved to the next generation of leadership, King Solomon that his appointment or calling was from God and that God has provided all that He would ever need to succeed. An example is the building of the Temple. “Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.” (1 Chronicles 28:11-12). In fact, 1 Chronicles 28: 11-20 is the demonstration of God providing King Solomon with all that he would ever need to complete His Temple successfully. The materials needed for the building of the Temple, the blueprint of the Temple and its workforce had all been handed over to King Solomon. Beloved in the Lord, God does not send us on an errand without providing us the logistics required to make the errand successful. It is for this reason, Paul wrote testifying to the Thessalonians, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) Every leader, who desires to serve God must endlessly rely on Him for His guidance and sustenance. A leader must pray for wisdom and discernment to identify both the materials and human resources available to enable him or her to make good use of them for the glory of God and also the edification of His people. We completely miss the point and are bound to woefully fail as leaders when our aim of ascending to positions as leaders is to use God’s provision of power and resources to enrich ourselves or amass wealth instead of using the same to glorify God and serve the masses.

It is important to note that, God did not want the Temple project to stall therefore he provided a substantial part of the logistics or materials needed during King David’s leadership so that King Solomon’s leadership would supervise the building of the project. This example could have been followed by the incumbent President of Ghana. He promised to build a national Cathedral to glorify God at a time when the nation was financially constrained, he could have made it a long-term goal and instituted a plan of assembling the materials or logistics required for the Catedral during his presidency. Unfortunately so much has been spent but nothing substantial has been done towards the building of the Cathedral because it is a monumental project that required a colossal amount of funds to execute. Even if he is not able to build the Cathedral during his time, another government will build it so long as there is a blueprint and availability of materials and funds. Today’s Scripture teaches us that God is a strategic planner and builder. He first assembled or provided all the materials required under the reign of King David and then went ahead to execute the building of the Temple under the reign of King Solomon. The same God, same project, different leadership but one mission. This is the plan of God for leadership and governance. Continuity, progress and steady development.

Secondly, having appreciated God’s provision of resources in terms of materials and workforce needed to succeed as leaders, it is equally important to note that to succeed, we must obey the commandments of God and endlessly fulfil His will. It is for this reason that when David was commissioning Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord he admonished him, “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. 9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” (1 Chronicles 28:8-10). David’s words to Solomon and their implication for Christian leadership and governance need no further interpretation or explanation. In the simplest terms, David is telling his son, the next King of Israel that God’s provision to make him succeed as a King is assured, however, his only responsibility is to trust and obey God. Beloved in the Lord, the most important thing among God’s provision to humanity and for that matter, those in leadership is not power and material possessions but His glory or presence in our lives. No wonder, David underscored this important fact when he said to Solomon, “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.” (1 Chronicles 28:20) Again, we see the importance of the Lord’s presence in our lives during the great commission when Jesus assured the Apostles, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). When Moses was called to lead the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, God assured him of His presence when He said him, ““I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:12) We are assured of God’s glory or presence in our lives when we trust and obey Him. The moment we cease to trust and obey Him, His glory departs from us thereby making us vulnerable and susceptible to monumental failure as leaders. We have seen the example of King Saul and other Kings of Israel who failed to obey God hence their failure and catastrophic end. Are leaders of the church, community and the nation listening to God in our generation? Are we corrupt and indifferent to the plight of the masses and disobedient to the commandments of God or we are determined to seek and do His will? In addition to David’s admonishment to Solomon, the prophet Micah reminds us of our divine responsibility or obligation as believers and leaders, when he said “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

In summary, beloved in the Lord we have learnt that God has called us to serve Him therefore He has provided us with all the necessary logistics and necessaries required for our success. However, we also must trust and obey the Lord in every step of our journey as believers and as leaders. When we fail to obey His commandment and fail to abide by His will, His glory will depart from us and we shall woefully fail. Shalom.

PRAYER

Thank you, God, for considering us worthy to be called to serve. We humbly pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us to be faithful in our calling so that Your glory will not depart from us. Dear Lord, we need Your ever-sufficient grace and glory to succeed. Amen.