Lead Strong: Leadership Lessons From The Bible - Part 1Sample

Leaders Don’t Worship False Gods

When you hear the names Ahab and Jezebel, your first thought is probably not “I wonder what great leadership lesson I can learn from their lives.” They were best known for being wicked rulers, but they show us a lot of what NOT to do.

When Ahab became king over Israel, he immediately built a temple and set up an idol for the worship of the false god Baal. He married Jezebel, an evil foreigner, and her number one goal was to stop worship of God in Israel, and to introduce the worship of false gods into the land. Of all the horrible things these two did, the worst was that they violated the first of God’s commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” As a result, we are told that Ahab “did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.”

I doubt any of us are setting up idols in our backyard and offering sacrifices, so we may think we are safe from committing this particular offense. How often, though, do we put other things before God? It’s important to recognize that if we aren’t putting God first, to Him it’s the same as putting him last. He wants to be first in our lives, but it can be easy to begin to let other things creep in and take His place without our even recognizing it. It may be allowing busyness to sneak in so that we are so consumed with our schedules and tasks that we forget to be consumed with Him. It may be working so hard in ministry that we no longer spend time with the One who called us into ministry in the first place. It may be allowing worry to cloud our minds when God has told us to cast our cares upon Him.

Inviting God into our lives on a daily basis is a great way to ensure that we keep Him first. When we start to get busy, we can stop and invite Him into our schedule. When we want to worry, we can invite Him into the situation to handle it. Staying conscious of God’s presence in every moment keeps us from putting anything before Him and makes Him first in our lives.

By Liz Sarno