By, Tim Irving – Evangelism Team
I don’t know about you, but I had a real ah ha or maybe it was an oh no moment from one of the Scriptures Pastor Steve read yesterday. When Jeremiah told the exiles to live their lives as normally as possible he added, “but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your own welfare.” We have been brought to a country, one that is far from perfect, but one in whose welfare “we find our own welfare.” As an exile, Daniel is one of the best examples of a Christian you can find and he didn’t even know Christ! He didn’t whine and complain, just did his best in all things. His integrity, his loyalty, his work ethic, to God first, could not be questioned and regardless of who the ruler was, he did his best to help that ruler and the country prosper. Can that be said of all Christians today? Regardless of who is in charge, do we want to see them succeed or do we degrade them and joy over their failures? Of course we don’t support their policies that go against Who we stand for, but are we building bridges or tearing them down? Our first priority is to bring people to Jesus but does our negativity toward certain leaders drive them away instead? We want to live in peace and prosperity and we want to obey God. So, before you get sent into exile somewhere, when you talk about our country and its leaders, think about what you’re saying and make sure it lines up with what God’s word says!