Role Model

Daily Reading: Ezekiel 5

This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. (Ezekiel 5.5)

Devotional Thought: "I am not a role model.  I’m not paid to be a role model.  I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court.  Parents should be role models.  Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids." ~Charles Barkley, NBA Power Forward, 1993

God had a plan for his people.  Beginning with Abraham, God intended not only to bless them, but to bless the nations of the world through them.  God set their very capital, Jerusalem, "in the center of the nations, with countries all around her" - to be a beacon in their day.  God was reaching out to the world.  Somehow, Israel replaced the idea of purpose with a sense of privilege.  They came to believe that God's blessing was all about them.  So, they started living for themselves, in the ways of the nations around them.  The beacon that God had set in the center of the nations grew dark.

Barkley was right in a sense.  We shouldn't expect celebrities to raise our kids.  But Barkley was wrong in another sense.  By his very position in culture, he was a role model, whether he liked it or not.  Young men - especially those devoid of a positive male influence - would naturally emulate him.  Whether he was a negative or positive role model may be open to debate.  What is not open to debate is the fact that our country desperately needs positive role models.  Our cities burn with fires ignited by the smoldering influence of morally bankrupt role models.

Jesus said, "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5.14).  As Christians - whether we like it or not - we are set upon a hill.  Are you shining the light of the Kingdom?

Prayer: Lord, I realize that I am a role model.  Help me to shine my light so that others may see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven.  Amen.  (Matthew 5.16)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 25.8-13

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

12 Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

13 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.