Genesis 24:42–51 (RSV) —
42 “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper the way which I go, 43 behold, I am standing by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Pray give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Pray let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.‘ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. 48 Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
NOTE: Rebekah will have the final say (verse 58), but the spiritual leadership of the house represented by both Bethuel and Laban agree to the proposed marriage. I'm not sure why Laban has a say but it could be that Bethuel is aged and that Laban (as probably the oldest son) has taken over leadership in the house (which would include major decisions and spiritual decisions). Rebekah is an adult, but leadership is designed to protect those under its umbrella. Unfortunately today, we see leadership as interfering with our freedom, rather than protecting us from bad decisions. And to be honest, much of today's leadership (civil, religious, and work) is selfish.
As a former leader in the military and then again in a think tank, and later a bank AI group, I believed very strongly in servant leadership. My goal was to take care of my people. Yes the mission was first, but people were my number one resource. If I took care of my people, they would take care of the mission. I still believe in that philosophy and I believe it made me successful. I don’t see it on display very much today. I see workers pitted against each other, and bullying as the tools of modern leaders.
PONDER:
- Do I care for the people who work for me?
- Do I pray for the people under my umbrella of leadership?
PRAYER: Father, my role has shifted a lot but I still have people who "work" for me. Help me to merge my volunteer role with my leadership experience to produce humble servant leadership that cares.
No comments:
Post a Comment