Love

Two thoughts from the passage I read today (Exodus 20:1 - Exodus 22:15):
1. I think it's a beautiful picture of leadership that the judges that God set up to rule his people are referred to as "God". For instance Exodus 22:9 says "Both parties must come before God for a decision, and the person whom God declares guilty must pay double to the other." I think it reiterates what I was talking about yesterday, that when we are in leadership appointed by God, we just need to follow Him and not worry about any complaints.
2. Exodus 21:5-6 says "But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. i would rather not go free.' If he does this his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever." I think that is probably the most accurate picture of sacrificial love that I can imagine. I have my freedom, but my family is enslaved. Rather than embracing my freedom I choose to remain enslaved because of my love for my family. It's kind of a picture of salvation. At any point, I can run away from God and be "free" from my commitment to him. Instead I voluntarily sacrifice because of my love. Because I realize my life within the confines of my voluntarily servitude is infinitely better than freedom apart from it.
May I constantly be drawn to devotion God because of my great love for Him.
JM

Exodus 16:7

Being in leadership can be tough. People like to complain. To let you know how they would do things. How they don't like certain things that you do. Or how they have the greatest idea that they just want to share with you, but if you don't use it, then you're an idiot. People like to complain about leadership, until they are the one leading.
I hate leading outside of God's will. When you're leading within God's will, then you're really not even leading, you're just following and showing others how to follow you. When you're leading outside of God's will, you're forging the path on your own. Who knows where you'll end up then?
Within God's will though, leadership is just following and any complaints you receive are just complaints against God. Kind of removes you from the whole equation. God, I pray that I would be the kind of leader who follows you closely.
JM