This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Heart’s Desire
Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:1-4)
There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours; there is every incentive for sacred enjoyment of the most elevated and ecstatic kind. Every name, attribute, word, or deed of Jehovah should be delightful to us, and in meditating on it our souls should be as glad as the epicurean who feeds delicately with a profound relish for his dainties.
A pleasant duty is here rewarded with another pleasure. People who delight in God desire or ask for nothing but will please God; hence it is safe to give them carte blanche.
When we only have eyes for our God, when our heart craves for only what our Savior can provide, when we have ears that tune out all but what the Holy Spirit whispers to us, then we are living in a place where our hearts are continually delighted with what God provides.
We have to trust the One who gave us His unshakable promises—Be delighted with the Lord. Then He will give you all your heart’s desires (v. 4 TLB). Be delighted with Him and He will—not “may” or “hopefully He will” but He will—give you ALL your heart’s desires! That’s because your desires align with His.
There is an ultimate reward in Heaven but there are incredibly satisfying rewards along the journey to Heaven as well. Take time every day to meditate on the boundless love that God has toward you, and let your heart be transformed so that you only crave the very best that your Heavenly Father has for you!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Our cravings are implanted by God and are fulfilled solely in our relationship with Him. Sometimes the journey seems long. If you have been in the car with kids, you know they are infamous for asking, “Are we there yet?” just a couple of minutes into the trip. We adults aren’t much better. Perhaps we have a little more patience but if we’re honest we may find ourselves asking, “How long is this going to take? It seems like it’s soooo long!”
We’ve discussed that a maturing attitude shift for us is exchanging “have to” for “get to.” This is when we begin to understand that something good—something far better than what we have now—is coming. This is the starting point to help us to wait well, to not get frustrated and bail out.
Jesus did this: “For the joy set before Him He endured the Cross” (Hebrews 12:2). He could see what was coming so He wouldn’t accept any lesser substitutes. But that same verse also calls us to be “looking away from all that will distract to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2 AMP).
This attitude exchange helps us in three ways:
Maturing self-control
Understanding the rewards of delayed gratification
Having a joyful expectation of both what’s coming and what’s happening now
Self-control, delayed gratification, and joyful expectation are also the key components of a satisfying relationship. These then allow me to make another important exchange: “don’t” for “won’t.”
For example, in my relationship with my wife Betsy, no one has to tell me, “Don’t speak to her unkindly.” I won’t speak to her unkindly because that would damage our relationship. No one has to tell me, “Don’t flirt with other women.” I won’t do that because I know that would jeopardize our relationship, perhaps causing me to look elsewhere to satisfy my craving for a meaningful relationship.
In the book called Song of Solomon, the word “lovely” is used frequently between lovers who only have eyes for each other. Paul uses this keyword when he talks about us only having our eyes, and heart, and mind on Jesus—“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).
David, who is described as a man after God’s own heart, wrote several psalms expressing his longing to be in God’s presence both now and for all eternity. Especially in Psalm 16 and Psalm 37, David shows us the don’t-for-won’t exchange (Psalm 16:1-11; 37:1-4).
Sometimes we will experience some lovely things here on earth, but those are nothing compared to the eternal rewards awaiting us. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”
Even if we experience unpleasant things here, the apostle Paul reminds us, “But what of that? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time—this present life—are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!”(Romans 8:18 AMP).
The marshmallow test is a famous experiment. Kids were given the choice to eat one marshmallow immediately or be rewarded with a second marshmallow if they waited. Researchers found that those who practiced self-control, delayed gratification, and joyful expectation faired much better later in life.
So I would encourage you to keep your marshmallow somewhere you will see it often. It will harden, but it will not mold or spoil. Every time you look at it, let it remind you that what’s coming is so much more than anything you could ever find here! Let this reminder help you exchange don’t for won’t as the Holy Spirit helps you keep your eyes only on Jesus.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
A couple of weeks ago I asked a question about a fictitious job. Which job would you rather have: a job that’s (a) boring, not utilizing your skills, where you’re treated as a cog in the wheel, or (b) energizing, calling out your best talents, a place where you are making a difference?
As a follow up I asked, “Which of those jobs are you more likely to be happy to go to? Which job is going to inspire you to give your best work ethic?”
We all want that ideal job, but the reality is that in this fallen world there are no perfect jobs, so it’s very likely that we’re going to have the challenging jobs. Even when we have that kind of job, Christians are called to work with excellence and to find joy in that work (Colossians 3:23).
Work originated with God. At the conclusion of every day of Creation, God looked at His magnificent handiwork and pronounced it good. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them instructions to work, and even after their sin, He repeated the call to work (Genesis 2:15, 3:17-19).
Whether we are called to be gardeners or evangelists, plumbers or salespeople, teachers or doctors, we are to work well. William Tyndale wrote, “There is no work better than to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a cobbler, or an apostle, all are one; to wash dishes and to preach are all one, as touching the deed, to please God.”
Let me give you two examples of good workers.
The first is Joseph whom we meet in the first book of the Bible. Out of their jealousy of their father’s preferential treatment of Joseph, his brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph ended up in Egypt working for a man named Potiphar. I don’t think anyone would have blamed Joseph for grumbling about his condition and giving the least effort possible, but instead, Joseph so excelled in his work that Potiphar promoted him over all his household.
After being framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph found himself in prison. Once again, this innocent man could have sulked and complained and shirked his work responsibility. But once again, Joseph did such excellent work that the warden promoted him to a trustee position over all the other prisoners.
Eventually, Joseph was promoted to second in command in all of Egypt, where he continued to do excellent and innovative work. Joseph’s good attitude and impeccable work ethic allowed God to place him in a position where he could save his people from starvation (see Genesis 39-50).
What about the example of Jesus? He was fully God, yet He gave up His divine prerogatives to work as a carpenter and to eventually perform the most important work of all: the willing sacrifice for the sins of all humankind. Paul describes the servanthood and willing attitude of Jesus in Philippians 2, adding an important “therefore” when he tells us that the excellent work of Jesus allowed God to place Him in a position where He could save His people from eternal separation from God (Philippians 2:6-11).
But Paul also has an important word for us in the verse preceding this passage: “Let this same attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus” (v. 5 AMP).
I may not be able to choose my job, but I can always choose to have a God-glorifying attitude about my job. When I choose this attitude and live it out with an excellent work ethic, God is pleased.
So allow me to give you four attitude-checking questions about your own work ethic:
Do I feel like I have to go to work? I should so crave God’s glory and God’s rewards that I have a get to attitude about my work.
Am I living for T.G.I.F.? We shouldn’t be focused on just getting things done, but we should make the most of every day of work that we have been given. We should be living out T.G.I.T.—Thank God It’s Today (Psalm 90:12, 17)!
Let me repeat an important principle: I may not be able to choose my job, but I can always choose to have a God-glorifying attitude about my job. When you have this kind of attitude, you will experience the joy of a fulfilled craving that God has put in all of us—the desire to do meaningful and God-honoring work. This is the attitude and work ethic God delights to reward.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Bragging About God
I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:1-3)
Boasting is a very natural propensity, and if it were used as in this case, the more it were indulged the better. The exultation of this verse is no mere tongue bragging; the soul is in it, and the boasting is meant and felt before it is expressed.
What scope there is for holy boasting in Jehovah! His Person, attributes, covenant, promises, works, and a thousand things besides are all incomparable, unparalleled, matchless; we may cry them up as we please, but we shall never be convicted of vain and empty speech in so doing.
What is even more remarkable about the praise David offers up in this psalm is the setting. The introduction to the psalm tells us it is while David is running from Saul and trapped in a Philistine stronghold.
It is a choice of his will. David didn’t wait until he felt like praising God, or until his circumstances were improved. We are more likely to act ourselves into feeling than we are to feel ourselves into action. So David says, “I will extol the Lord … His praise will be on my lips.”
This bragging about God—when from a human standpoint there appears to be nothing to brag about—becomes a testimony. David’s personal pronouns “I” and “my” quickly turn into the plural pronoun “us” as David invites others to ponder the beauty of Jehovah! “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.”
Our bragging about God, especially in the face of difficult circumstances, is a powerful testimony that will draw others to Him. You may start out praising Him on your own, but it won’t be long until others join your worship chorus.
Friends, your praising and bragging about God is more powerful than you may realize. When God is worshipped, He is lifted up for all to see, so keep on bragging about Him!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent… (Zephaniah 1:12).
When I taught a series on the minor prophets, I noted that Zephaniah wanted to share some really, really good news, but first, he had to make his audience confront the really bad news. The really bad news is that we all have sinned and fall short of God’s righteous standard. The really, really good news is that God has provided forgiveness for our sins through Jesus.
Sadly, one of the things that keeps us from addressing the sin in our heart is complacency. The King James Version of Zephaniah 1:12 says that the people were “settled in their complacency.” If you look up the definition of the Hebrew word here, it literally means settled on their lees.
Look at the full verse in the NIV: “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who arelike wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’”
This phrase—“who are like wine left on its dregs”—puts the people at a tipping point. The lees or dregs of a barrel is where the wine is at its finest color and flavor. But wine that has “settled” is right at the point of curdling.
God is addressing people who have become self-satisfied. They have reached the place that they have called their “good life.” They want nothing to disturb them; especially not any teaching or preaching that may bring the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
So they have deluded themselves. They have said, “If everything seems to be going well for me, then I must be doing everything right. Don’t tell me anything that might make me uncomfortable.” Outward appearances and circumstances can be deceiving. We have to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. We must never become complacent in our relationship with Jesus.
A very similar warning is sounded for the church in Laodicea. Jesus called them complacent when He said that they were neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. They, too, had also stopped listening to the Holy Spirit because they had complacently said to themselves, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.”
Laodicea was at the point where they should have been at their finest, but instead their complacency had brought them to a place of curdling—a place where Jesus threatened to spit them out of His mouth!
Complacency is deadly!
The solution: listen to the rebuke and discipline that the Holy Spirit brings, and repent of complacency. If we do, we will discover the inestimable, eternal riches that only a vibrant relationship with Jesus can give us (Revelation 3:14-22).
Let us never become settled on our lees, but let us be ready to be poured out for our Master’s enjoyment and glory. May I suggest that we all regularly pray the prayer of David: “Search me, O God. Point out any sin that I have complacently allowed to remain in my heart” (Psalm 139:23-24). And when that sin is revealed, don’t wait to repent because your wine is just about to curdle! But the restoration that repentance will bring to your heart will allow the richness and vibrancy of your life to be pleasing to your Savior!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
There’s a misconception that many people have about God’s laws: they think that they are intended to rob us of enjoyment, that they restrict our lives and remove our pursuit of happiness.
In actuality, the exact opposite is true. God is love (1 John 4:8). That means everything God does is rooted in His love for us. Including the laws He gives us. He loves us and wants us to stay in the place where we don’t experience the heartache, pain, and disappointment of missing out on His blessings.
God is also happy. Paul calls it “the glory of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11). The word “blessed” can easily be translated as happy. God is happy and He wants us to share in this ultimate happiness.
Consider the blessings that are in first and last of the Ten Commandments:
The first commandment says there is only one God. Far from this being restrictive, it’s a huge blessing. I don’t have to search and compare, I don’t have to make a list of pros and cons and then settle on the best option, but I can enjoy the one and only true God.
The tenth commandment says I don’t need to crave anything outside of what God has given me. Again, this is a huge blessing because it tells me that my loving Father has given me all that I need, that He alone satisfies my cravings.
John Piper gave the essence of idolatry in this line: “Preferring other things above God.” This is why God delights for us to delight in Him. When we do, He is our sole focus. When He is our focus, we enjoy Him immensely and we reject anything that would remove our gaze from Him.
That’s why there is a continuous linkage in all 176 verses of Psalm 119 between God’s laws and our delight—between obedience and satisfaction. When we obey God, we experience His happiness.
The apostle Paul called Christians to live this way: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). Gospel literally means “good news.” What good news are we supposed to proclaim? The good news that God is happy and that He wants to say to us, “Come and share your Master’s happiness” (Matthew 25:21)!
When I was a kid I struggled with this question: Do I love God just because He first loved me? I thought, “That seems like a cop out. Am I really saying that the only reason I have for loving Him is that He went first?” But then I realized it couldn’t be any other way. How could I love an angry God? How could I ever expect to approach a God who knew all my sins and had the final say on my punishment, and was just waiting for a chance to get His hands on me?
I can only love a loving God. I can only love Him because He first loved me (see Romans 5:8).
In a similar way, I can only crave God because He first craved a relationship with me. Otherwise I’m setting myself up for unimaginable heartbreak and disappointment!
Jesus said it was His Father’s “good pleasure” to reveal Himself to us. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son. Our heavenly Father craved a relationship with us, so He revealed His Son Jesus to us so that Jesus could reveal the Father to us (see Matthew 11:25-30; John 14:7).
Just as we could only love God because He loved us first, we could only crave a relationship with God because He craved a relationship with us first. It was always His plan to adopt us into His family—this is what gives Him great pleasure (Ephesians 1:5). Then God works in us to fulfill His craving for us, which empowers us to find our deepest longings satisfied exclusively in Him (Philippians 2:13).
Sometimes we get a small taste or experience of earthly pleasure that quickly fades away. C.S. Lewis reminded us, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Our craving for God is only satisfied in the knowledge that God first craved a relationship with us. Only the intimacy of our Savior will fulfill our cravings. Anything else will end only in utter disappointment.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
New Songs Everyday
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. (Psalm 33:1-3)
To keep up the freshness of worship is a great thing, and in private, it is indispensable. Let us not present old, worn-out praise but put life and soul and heart into every song, since we have new mercies everyday and see new beauties in the work and Word of our Lord.
It is wretched to hear God praised in a slovenly manner. He deserves the best we have. All Christians should endeavor to sing according to the rules of the art so that they may keep time in tune with the congregation. The sweetest tunes, and the sweetest voices, with the sweetest words, are all too little for the Lord our God; let us not offer Him limping rhymes, set to harsh tunes, and growled out by discordant voices.
Every Thursday night is going to be our date night. I’m going to plan something special, dress up in some nice clothes, and be totally tuned in to your needs. I’m going to listen to everything you have to say to me, express my unending love to you, ask forgiveness for areas I may have messed up that week, and then endeavor to put into practice everything you tell me that you would like.
I promise I’ll be there every Thursday.
The other days of the week, I’ll think about you every once in a while—especially if I need something—but other than that I’ll be doing my own thing.
How rich and meaningful would you expect that relationship to be?
Sadly, this is how many people who call themselves Christians view their relationship with Jesus. They put on nice clothes every Sunday, show up at church, sing some songs, listen to a sermon, repent of sins, and promise to live a better life in this new week. But after they leave their church service, they seldom give their Savior another thought—unless they get themselves into trouble where they really need a Savior’s immediate help.
In Psalm 33, the psalmist is calling us to—as Spurgeon puts it—“freshness in worship” not just in a public worship service, but in private worship at every moment of every day. Our God is continually revealing Himself to us in new and fresh ways, so our worship should be equally as fresh, vibrant, and passionate—both planned times of worship and spontaneous songs of praise.
Both our relationship with God and with our loved ones will go to new levels of intimacy when we seek to know the other one more deeply. Our God is worthy of the very best praise we can give Him, which means we will always be finding new ways to sing our worship to Him every single day.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In Romans 3:23 we read, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”What does it mean to “fall short” of God’s standard? John Piper describes it this way: “It means that none of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied with His greatness and walked in His ways. We have sought our satisfaction in other things, and treated them as more valuable than God.”
A couple of chapters earlier in Romans, Paul tells us about an exchange that people make. They exchange a relationship with the eternal God for things which they can grab immediately. Sadly, these immediate things are only temporal things that fall short of God’s awesome glory and leave us perpetually unsatisfied (Romans 1:21-25).
We were created by God to crave. Craving is what gives us staying power and brings fulfillment. Think of it this way: Would you rather…
…go to a job that is mundane, boring, and only focused on making money OR go to a job that is fascinating, using our talents, and trying to make a difference in the world?
…eat food that tastes like cardboard OR eat savory food?
…serve a god that is temporary, fickle, and unreliable OR serve a God that is eternal, faithful, strong, and loving?
Or think of it another way: Which of those jobs would you want to go to? Which job would call out your best effort? Which food would you want to eat? Which food would make you want to praise the chef? And which God would you want to spend eternity with? Which God would want to invite others to worship?
God gives us cravings that can only be satisfied in Him. The devil perverts these cravings to get us to go for quick, easy, self-made pleasures. Just think about how he tempted Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-6).
Both the Old Testament and New Testament tell us of the joys of eternal cravings being satisfied and the consequences of giving in to temporal cravings. For example:
God gives a craving for future meat, but satisfies us with manna while we wait. The devil temps us to have our meat now (Deuteronomy 12:20; Psalm 106:12-14; Numbers 11:34).
God gives a craving for satisfying relationships. The devil tempts us to indulge our passions now by grabbing the most alluring relationship (Proverbs 5:18-19; Deuteronomy 5:21; Romans 1:24, 26).
God gives a craving for success and significance in His timeframe. The devil tempts us to get ahead now (1 Kings 11:37-38; Genesis 3:6).
It’s a terrible exchange when we give up the glorious eternal for the fading temporal! Romans 1 describes the results as sinful, degrading, shameful, unnatural. That’s because the things of earth are temporary; only God is eternal.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh—craving for sensual gratification—and the lust of the eyes—greedy longings of the mind—and the pride of life—assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things—these do not come from the Father but are from the world itself. And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever. (1 John 2:16-17 AMP)
We have to trust the One who gave us His unshakable promises—Be delighted with the Lord. Then He will give you all your heart’s desires (Psalm 37:4 TLB). Be delighted with Him and He will—not “may” or “hopefully He will” but He will—give you ALL your heart’s desires!
There is an ultimate reward in Heaven but there are incredibly satisfying rewards along the journey to Heaven as well. Rewards like happiness, security, insight, and divine counsel from the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 4:8; Psalm 119:2, 10, 16, 18, 24).
If we will resist the temptation to satisfy our cravings by exchanging the eternal for the temporal, we will be rewarded with divine satisfaction here and rewards beyond imaging forever in God’s presence!
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
The Proof In The Longing
My soul is consumed with longing for Your laws at all times. (Psalm 119:20)
Can you say that your heart pines for God as the watcher through the midnight sighs for the dawn, or as the traveler over burning sand longs for the shadow of a great rock? Oh, then, though I would not have you rest in longings; indeed, I know you never can. Yet they are a proof that you are spiritually alive! Heart longings are far better tests than attendance at sacraments, for men who are dead in sin have dared to come both to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Eager desires prove spiritual life much better than supposed attainments, for these supposed attainments may all be imaginary. But a heart breaking for the longing that it has for God’s Word is no fancy. It is a fact too painful to be denied! …
We have not reached perfection, but do not let us, therefore, be discouraged, for the apostle of the Gentiles said, ‘Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect’ (Philippians 3:12). … When a man thinks himself so good that he cannot be better, he is probably so bad that he could not be worse. …
The fuller a man is of grace, the more he hungers for grace! Strange it is to say so, but the paradox is true—the more he drinks and the more he is satisfied and ceases to thirst in one sense, the more he is devoured with thirst after the living God! … This it is to be a true child of God: To always have a yearning soul toward God’s Word, to be eager after His commandments at all times. May the Holy Spirit keep us ever hungering and thirsting after God and His truth.
From Holy Longings
In a recent interview that I did, I was asked how someone should deal with the fact that they are struggling to be balanced in their leadership. My reply was, “The very fact that they are feeling the struggle should be a great encouragement to them. People who don’t feel the tension of wanting to get better are blinded to their deficiencies and never seek help.”
The proof of our growing maturity is in our longing for growing maturity.
The psalmist in this great chapter is thrilled with what God’s Word has already accomplished in his life, and yet he is still longing for the Holy Spirit to do an even greater work in his heart. This is the tension in which every maturing Christian should live. The devil would love to whisper to your heart, “Your longing for more proves that you are still immature.” This is an utter lie! As Spurgeon reminds us, the more of God we have, the more of God we will crave.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I had a great time on the Thriving In Ministry podcast with Kyle Willis while his podcast partner Dace Clifton was on sabbatical.
From all of the podcasts and interviews they had done, Kyle shared with me how so many pastors find it difficult to take a Sabbath break. Kyle noted that a pastor’s day of rest seems to bump into everyone else’s day of work.
That passage in Mark 6 that I mentioned is instructive for leaders in a couple of ways. First, Jesus was looking out for His teammates. He saw that they were tired and He called them to a place of rest. Good shepherds are always tuned in to the needs of the flock around them. As David said in Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd knows when to lead us to quiet pastures and still waters.
Second, I see that Jesus was also tuned in to Himself. Even though He was trying to get to a quiet place, He took time to minister in teaching and food to a crowd that was described as “sheep without a shepherd.” When this time was finished, Jesus took time alone to pray (Mark 6:46).
I think sometimes leaders have sabotaged their own health and effectiveness by saying things like, “This is quitting time” or “This is my day off.” Instead, we should listen to the Holy Spirit giving us insight like, “Take a break now. It’s time to go to a quiet pasture. It’s time to recharge in prayer.”
Leaders, don’t stick rigidly to your schedule but stay tuned in to yourself. Listen for the unmistakable voice of the Holy Spirit giving you wisdom. I have a section of five chapters in my book Shepherd Leadership that deal with every aspect of a leader’s health. Please pick up a copy today.
I’ll be sharing more clips from this Thriving In Ministry interview soon, so please stay tuned. Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter is available in print or ebook, and in audiobook through either Audible or Apple.
Craig T. Owens 