Cover to Cover

Reading: 1 Samuel 20:1-22:23

Focus: 1 Samuel 22:6-19

The old saying goes, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The double-edge sword of leadership, the power and authority of leadership, can be dangerous in the hands of anyone, even the most careful of leaders. For if a leader is unable to wield the sword of leadership, he is easily overcome by those who despise his leadership; if a leader wields the sword wildly with absolute disregard for those around him, it is likely that he’ll hurt people and himself in the process. It takes a strong, but firm, leader to wield the sword so that those he leads follows him, but also feel protected with him.

One such case of power-corrupted-leadership is King Saul. After his fallout with God and David’s victory over Goliath, Saul lived in fear of losing his throne. So great was his fear that it drove him to make some serious mistakes. One such instant was when he massacred an entire clan of priests and the city in which they lived. All this for they had innocently provided David with food and a weapon. His fear had driven him to unreasonable action, even his own officers wanted nothing to do with his madness.

Leadership is not something to be taken lightly. Within your hands, you hold influence, authority, valued opinion, and the people you lead. Those is positions of leadership need to constantly evaluate their motivations, attitudes and progress, unless they find themselves either overwhelmed by the task at hand, or getting drunk on power and going out on a rampage… For those of you who are not leaders, it is all the more critical that you pray and support those in leadership. In the end, their leadership, good or bad, affects you. Good leadership means that you benefit, bad leadership means that you suffer.

Next Reading: 1 Samuel 23:1-25:44