Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God-gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble-all of these in large quantities. Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?”
Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
– 1 Chronicles 29:1-9
Devotion
If you grew up with any younger siblings, you have been hearing it for most of your life: “Set a good example.” This leadership principle can seem simplistic at times because we have heard it since childhood. Yet the fact remains that leadership is influence. In order to positively influence those around us, they need to see that we are worthy of following and that we have bought into the vision that we want them to embrace. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to obey the age-old adage: “Lead by example.” Essentially the same principle we have been taught since childhood.
All of us lead in some capacity. You may lead at work, in the family, or among groups of people, but there is likely some arena where you hold some level of leadership. David shows us in this passage the importance of leadership by example rather than simply leadership by position. As king, David could have kept his personal treasury to himself and simply commanded the people to give toward the temple or even imposed some sort of mandatory tax. Instead, David demonstrated the importance of this project by investing in it himself. The people were immediately convinced of the importance of giving and followed David’s leadership.
Good leadership never asks someone to do something that you are not willing to do. David reminds us of the effectiveness of this principle. Wherever it is that you lead, do not forget to lead by example!
The Big Question
How can you do a better job of leading by example today?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.