SOAP Devotional 2014-02-03
Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer
Scripture:
Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (Hebrews 13:17 NLT)
Observation:
The Lord Jesus Christ, as supreme head of his church, has ordered and ordained that there shall be officers of his church, to guide and teach, to rule and watch over it. Since this is His order of doing things, then we are to do what they say with regards to serving in the church and in living a godly life. Also, since he established this order, they must give an account to God on how well they have watched out for you and on how you have responded. We want their account to be a good report and not one that they hate to give. When we leave the man of God grieving over us, it will not benefit us for being out of God's order of things.
Application:
People today seem to think that pastors and spiritual leaders are just there as our chosen representatives and someone to do our ministry bidding. These is extremely unbiblical. God chooses our spiritual leaders. If you get a vote in your church, it can really only be to affirm that you believe this is the one that God sent. It is not an election in the democratic sense. This is God's order and the blessings or chastising we receive are even tied to how well we stay within His order of things. There are those who resist submitting to spiritual leaders and instead do things their own way and then wonder why God does not bless the work they believe that they are doing for him. In essence they are just doing what they do in His name, but are doing to in rebellion to the order that God has laid out. Their spiritual leaders cannot give a good or joyful account to God for their behavior and in turn they do not receive the benefit of all they do. They would do much better to heed this passage rather than rebel against God.
Prayer:
Father, let me be fully aware of those you have placed in spiritual authority over me. Let me live in such a way to accept their correction gracefully and without ought against them so that they may give a good account of my progress in you and rejoice over what I am doing.
