Hosea 5:1-3 - "Hear this, you priests! Pay attention,
you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgment is against
you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread
out on Tabor. The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline
all of them. I know all
about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have
now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
Hosea spoke some harsh words of God to the leaders of
Israel. The priests that God had charged
with keeping the people pure and righteous had led them so far away from God
that they were encouraging idol worship and prostitution. God saw it all…and was not happy about
it. He was about to turn away from his
people for a time so that they could be taught an important lesson about who
they should serve.
Hosea’s words are really for all of us now. We are each leaders in some form or fashion
to someone….for those around us watch us to see what we do. If we tell others we are followers of Christ…they
watch us even closer. Satan watches us the closest….listening and plotting his
next plan to turn us into self-sufficient people who think they don’t need God
at all.
Satan’s mission is to harden our hearts …so that we see the
narrow road leading to God as too difficult to travel. He makes it easier for us to follow the world
ways that led these Israelites to pagan gods and reliance on everything but
Jehovah…who had picked them as his people….and given them a great land flowing
with milk and honey to live in.
I will be the first to admit that I don’t always take my
role as a leader seriously enough. I
teach 90 plus children each day…with another 1,100 looking at me when they pass
me in the halls. Let’s add the membership
of my church….who see me every Sunday…singing in the choir. Then there is the 100 or so that brush past
me in the places where I shop for groceries or daily needs. And I simply have
no clue how many people follow this blog post each day. I think you get the point…we lead even when
we don’t think we are. There is a constant
flow of people in and around our lives that look at us ….to see if our walk
matches our talk.
Father…thank you for the reminder that others are watching
me even when I don’t notice it. Forgive
me for the times that others have seen me at less than my best. Help me to be faithful…so
when others see me they will see you. Help
me to live a life that draws people closer to you. Amen.
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