Skip to main content

He Has Your Back

When you face critical events, isn’t it great to know that someone has your back?  Perhaps it’s even better when that person is a leader.

Of course, not all leaders have your back.  Some might be focused on power or prestige or just being in charge.  Sometimes leaders can be aloof or unapproachable and you don’t find them hanging out with those they lead unless absolutely necessary.  None of all that really gives you any real assurance that they have your back!

I really like the account of Joshua, a leader of Israel, and what he did on the eve of what was expected to be a major battle:

“So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.” (Joshua 8:9)

The troops probably needed to know that Joshua had their backs and to demonstrate that he did have their backs, he spent the night with them.  But it didn’t stop there, the next verse shows that he actively led the troops:

“Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.  And all the fighting men who were with him went up…”  (Josh 8:10-11)

Joshua, as a leader, stayed with his troops when they needed to know that he was there with them and for them.  He also actively led them in battle.  He definitely had their backs.

Another leader did all that and even more:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,” (Isa 61:1)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10).

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  (John 8:36)

This leader, this Jesus, not only dwelt among us but He sought us, saved us, released us from darkness and bound up our brokenness.  To say that He has our backs is probably the greatest understatement of all time! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...
Post a Comment
Read more

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more