Day 5 – Delighting In The Word

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NLT)

“The seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.” (Luke 8:15, NLT)

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NLT)

With all the toppling of leaders and the damage these leaders were responsible for, it’s understandable to want to place guardrails around those who lead. While leaders, like all of us, need accountability and benefit from wise structures, God prescribes actions greater than protection. He does not merely tell us to not go down the road of destruction; He also offers a better path. After all, an overarching message of Scripture is that our hearts are wicked and in need of transformation, not innocent and in need of protection. Boundaries and safeguards will be insufficient if the leader’s heart is not transformed. Let’s return to the psalmist’s vision of a life like a fruit-bearing tree:

Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night.

Psalm 1:2, CSB

The one who is blown away like chaff in the wind delights in ungodly instruction; the one who is rooted and fruitful delights in the Lord’s instruction. The psalmist does not command us to be like strong trees who bear fruit. Instead, the psalmist commends those who delight in the Lord’s instruction. The transformative action we must take is to delight in God and His Word.

The Word is better for us than anything world offers. According to the psalmist, delighting in the Word is the way we get strong roots and bear fruit. And according to Jesus, the Word is the seed that brings forth good fruit. In one of the few parables Jesus explained, He made clear that when His Word is planted in a heart that receives it, the Word will produce fruit and endurance in the person’s life.

When it comes to leadership, we are wise to want beautiful fruit, but we must understand the roots beneath the surface that produce the fruit. The fruit can inspire us and give us a picture of what we hope our leadership will be for others, but wisdom calls us to focus on healthy roots that bring about healthy fruit and keep us from toppling.

As we’ve seen, the psalmist gives us a picture of a rooted and fruitful life. Scripture also gives us an example of a rooted and fruitful leader.

While there is a chapter in the Bible about a rooted and fruitful tree, there is a whole book about a rooted and fruitful leader, a book in God’s Word about leadership you can delight in, meditate on, and learn from. For the next two days, we will explore some lessons in leadership from the biblical book of Nehemiah.