This month’s guest feature is from a gifted friend who serves the Lord in many capacities.

He is a husband, father, pastor, and as an officer of the state, he usually carries a sidearm. Ritchie Thompson is a respected man whose works speak for him. In these devotional thoughts, Ritchie encourages you to “act like a King” on a daily basis.

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In Mark Batterson’s book entitled if, he shares Deuteronomy 17:19.

“And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.”

Batterson listed 3 things that were required of each king in Israel’s history:

• They were to make a copy of the law in their own handwriting.
• They were to keep it on their person at all times.
• They were to read it every single day.

Could it possibly be that you need to act like a king?

William Strickland has shared several leadership building blocks that I have reviewed lately and taken to heart. Like this, “For better or worse leadership sets the moral pace. People soon become what they see you are. What kind of pace are you setting?” 

As I ponder that thought I am overwhelmed by the task and responsibility we have as leaders, regardless if you are a Pastor, Sunday school teacher, or just an everyday believer leading from the middle of the pack. Let’s face it. The responsibility that Jesus places on us in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven” is quite a challenge.

The enormous challenge of leadership for an Israeli King was mind blowing. Perhaps that explains the time-consuming tasks of copying the Law by hand, keeping it on their person, and reading it daily. It actually called for the King to have his heart personally invested in the process and required self-discipline to keep it close and daily glean from its treasures.

In our call to leadership, we must develop healthy qualities like accountability, empathy, confidence, honesty, decisiveness, focus and inspiration. Where do we begin? I am glad you asked. Timothy Keller said, “If we give priority to the outer life, our inner life will be dark and scary.” So as simplistic as it sounds our foundation must rest on a personal investment of prayer. “It’s not speaking toward God but with Him” (Keller).

Keller also recorded that seventeenth-century English theologian John Owen wrote a warning to popular and successful ministers: “A minister may fill his pews, his communion rolls, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.”

The spiritual self-discipline needed is driven by your daily routine. When the routine becomes stagnant and sloppy so do you. In Matthew 6 that hallmark section known as the Lord’s Prayer comes from Jesus. It is He who gave us this template to follow. He told us it was okay to ask. Your requests never make God nervous, in fact, He invites us to keep a daily appointment with Him. The only way you can disappoint Him is to forget and stand him up. He will be waiting for you because in that moment alone with Him is where we become transformed and equipped to act like a king.

When you are with the King nothing else matters but His will and His Kingdom (click to tweet). He influences us in small and large ways that are indescribable.

The Israeli King was not just required to copy the Word he was also required to keep it close and read it daily. Quoting my friend again, “Your ministry foundation should be none other than the Word of God rightly interpreted and applied” (William Strickland).

There are great benefits derived from daily reading the Word of God.

• It feeds you. “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).
• It washes you. As you read the Word it washes away so many negative things that try to cling to you from just walking through this world on a daily basis. See Ephesians 5:26.
• It equips you. By the routine exercise of reading the word, you discover spiritual building blocks that God uses to build new and wonderful spiritual truths in your life.

The next time the daily grind of your day becomes too much, run to God’s Word and ACT LIKE A KING!