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.
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