Being an Effective Leader For God

Exodus 29:12,20-21; 30:20: "Take some of the bull's blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger . . . . Slaughter it (a ram), take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. . . . And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments . . . . Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die."

This Exodus account presents God's expectations for the leaders of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Specifically, God is consecrating the Israelite priests in order that they might serve as spiritual leaders, offering sacrifices for the people to the Lord.

One of the first things that these leaders were to do was sacrifice a bull at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and offer it as a sin offering for themselves on the horns of the altar of the Lord.

We can find in this account the extreme importance of leaders to deal with their own sin issues before beginning their calling to lead others spiritually. When we today think of being called to serve the Lord, we first should think introspectively at ourselves . . . do we have unconfessed sin that needs to be presented to the Lord? If so, we then need to sacrifice our wayward, disobedient lives to God through repentance and confession. We need to turn from any sin and recommit ourselves to obedience to the Lord. Our blessing is the assurance that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2); He is the horn of our salvation (Luke 1:69) that has the power and authority to forgive our confessed sin (1 John 1:9). Without the power of God's salvation through Jesus Christ, we stand as powerless leaders without hope of God's mercy. But because Christ is our Sovereign Lord, who reigns supreme over all things, we have the assurance that through His Power, we who have submitted to Him have received His Divine adoption and have obtained the power to accomplish all that He wills for our lives as leaders.

Secondly, the blood of the ram was to be placed upon the right ear, thumb, and toe of the leader. We can see the incredible imagery of this symbolic application to leaders today. We are called to incline our ears to the Savior, not to the feigned philosophies of the world that war against the Lordship of Christ. We are also directed to make the paths of our feet and the work of our hands actions worthy of our Savior. Whatever your hand finds to do and wherever your foot leads you . . . you are to do all things to the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31), remembering that He is the LORD and that He has bought us with His precious blood (1 Cor. 6:20; 2 Cor. 5:15).

As the priest was to wash himself before entering the presence of the LORD to do the Lord's work, so to the leader today is to prepare himself daily before embarking on the tasks to which God has assigned him. This is the washing of sin from one's heart through repentance. Once sin is confessed, the leader should petition the Lord for wisdom and guidance to perform his duties in a way consistent with the will of God, bringing glory to God in all things.