Hebrews 13:17

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either]. Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things. And I beg of you [to pray for us] the more earnestly, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. (AMP)

A leader should walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things. If a leader lives a righteous life, a life of light, he is worthy to be followed. But if a leader lives a duplicitous life or a self-oriented life of materialism, he should not be followed, for he is like a blind man leading the blind. They both will fall in the ditch. Many people have followed false leaders who lead people into great error. Such leaders are like wolves who come in to scatter the sheep and to lead them into great confusion. We often see a lot of this on television. We have a generation of Christians living primarily for themselves, looking for constant wealth and miracles, the next spiritual "fix" to make life better. People will sing and shout if they can see a payoff here on Earth, but they become disconsolate and discouraged when facing struggles or heartaches. Paul said he was being led by the Spirit of God to Jerusalem where he was captured by the Jewish leaders who pressed for his execution. But Paul knew the Spirit was leading him to Rome and this captivity was only a conduit to fulfill God's plan. He did minister for a while in Rome but eventually was killed by the Romans. Paul's only real assurance was that he would be persecuted and under the constant threat of death. Yet he willingly followed his Master, even to death. Many early Christians were persecuted from city to city, but they kept their testimony of Jesus the Savior alive wherever they went.

The dedication and faithfulness of early believers contrasts with the lukewarm and haphazard faith of many modern-day Christians. The early church faced persecution and death; we face over-indulgence and disgruntlement. American Christians spend too much time praying for self, for our personal miracles, our deliverance and not enough time seeking God's will and reaching out to others. Our lives tend to be overly self-absorbed, self-centered. When we think God has failed us, we complain about our prayers not being answered. We ask, "Why isn't He in our lives, doesn't He care?" We have taken on the spirit of a world that says, we are only going around once, so why not grab as much as we can from the journey. However, we who are in Christ are standing on the shoulders of thousands and maybe millions of martyrs. This world was not their home; they looked for a city not made by hands, a heavenly home.

How we have changed! We fill our houses and garages with "stuff," and provide every positive experience that we can for our families. Sadly, in this day and age, many Christians believe we have to experience every "good thing" the world offers to get the most from life. We say, Jesus plus the world will bring the contentment we deserve. Often we are so deceived that we do not even recognize our self-absorption. Why? For one reason, we have abandoned God and his Word by following the wrong leaders and the wrong ideas. We ignore the Holy Spirit and no long emulate the lives of Paul, Peter, James and others who gave their all for Christ. We are following people who preach gain as godliness. We must ask: Is this Christianity? Is this why we go to church and worship God, so He can make our lives carefree? Did Christ give his all to ensure a better earthly life? If so, the apostles surely did not receive that promise. But God did promise us that we would become children of God with a heavenly abode, not made by human hands. This was the land Abraham sought, this was the land of all believers who have gone before. This IS THE LAND that we must seek to find real joy and peace. We should feel discontented with this world, for it is not our final resting place. We look for our heavenly home.