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Do What?




 

Ezekiel 32:2

“Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: You compare yourself to a lion of the nations,

but you are like a monster in the seas.

You thrash about in your rivers,

churn up the waters with your feet,

and muddy the rivers.”

 

Thought for the day – Do What?

One of the things I am most proud of as someone who grew up in South Africa is the truth and reconciliation commission that was set up after the 1994 elections. It was an opportunity to confront the past and potentially rebuild South Africa for the future. Nationalist Party Leader FW De Klerk and ANC Leader Nelson Mandela worked together to drive through significant changes.  As Christians we were encouraged to pray for the country’s leaders, no matter who they were.

 

God’s wanted Ezekiel to lament for Pharoah. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been. But Ezekiel did. In much the same way people in South Africa were asked to pray for leaders they may not have supported and they did. And in our increasingly divided world I think Ezekiel’s obedience is an example to us to pray for those political leaders we may not want to have anything to do with.

 

Paul encourages Timothy to pray for the political leaders of his time (1 Timothy 2:1-2). I think we need to take the same attitude. To not do so is to ignore Jesus’ words that we give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is Gods. I know it will be hard, but we are called to do it and we trust God to do what God needs to do.


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