Submitting to Authority

Hello everyone,

How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord.

Primary Text

“Likewise, you who are younger and of lesser rank, be subject to the elders (the ministers and spiritual guides of the church) – [giving them due respect and yielding to their counsel]...” 1 Peter 5v5 (AMP)

After Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, exhorts the elders in the Church, he then turns to the younger ones, and asks them to submit or be subject to the elders in the Church. Child of God, are you teachable? Do you think you know it all and can do it all by yourself? How do you respond to the counsel of the elders of your local assembly? Do you respect them, or do you talk badly about them when they are not there? The text below (somewhat long) shows how King Rehoboam listened to the counsel of young people and ignored that of the old men, and the repercussions of this. Now, if you know you are in a Church where the elders are themselves leading by example, and walking in the ways of the Lord, you can ask yourself, what rubs me the wrong way and makes me unwilling to listen to their counsel? Are you having itchy ears and want to do things your way? May the Lord grant us always to be able to discern between wise and foolish counsel.

Supplementary Text

“So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’” Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” So the Israelites went home.” 1Kings 12v3-16 (NIV)

Prayer

Heavenly Father we thank You so much for Your Word. Father, help me always to listen to and yield to sound counsel, in Jesus name, amen.