These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants. Nehemiah 11:3 – Certainly a difficult chapter to read through due to it being almost completely a list of Old Testament names, the power behind who those names were is special. We are seeing the city of Jerusalem finally in a place of health again, something it hadn’t been for a long time. The Temple was rebuilt, the city walls were rebuilt, and homes were now being built to actually make this place a populated city again. Yet there is a key ingredient to making a city populated…people. What we are seeing though is that people weren’t rushing to be first in line to live in Jerusalem. While rebuilt, there was still a lot of work to do. It also meant leaving your established home wherever that was and moving to a place where enemies were still targeting. The city though needed people, and who were the first to step up to the call? The leaders of the people. They weren’t about to ask the people to do something they weren’t willing to do themselves. Here is a valuable lesson for those who are leaders and those who look up leaders. When a challenge comes within a season, the leader should be the one willing to be the first to step in a navigate it. When leaders avoid challenges and conflict, or they force others to handle it for them so they don’t have to, that is the sign of an unhealthy leader and organization. The example set for us here in scripture is leaders leading. Leaders saw the challenge and were willing to be first in line. And for those who aren’t leaders, know our role then is to follow the leader and be their support as they are first in line with the challenge. Together is how we move through challenges. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3408
Question To Ponder: How might someone support a leader who is faithfully going first?
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