Day 64 - Deuteronomy 18-22

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 64 - Deuteronomy 18-22 (A Leadership Lesson From God's War Strategy)
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"When you go out to battle against your enemies... the officers shall speak to the people, saying: 'What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.  Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.  And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.'  The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.'"  (Deuteronomy 20:5-8)

Since I began writing my daily devotional through the whole Bible which started January 1st of this year, 2015, I have always written in such a way as to reach the widest possible reading audience.  Why? Because that is my purpose in writing the devotionals - to help as many readers as possible to learn God's Word.  Today, I realize that I am writing to a very limited group of people - I'm not even sure if any of this type will read this post.  I would like to write about how to form a team with the goal of winning.

If you are still reading this, I would love to know who you are for we share a kindred spirit.  I was fascinated when I read the text above because it revealed a side of God which is seldom taught - that of a master strategist.  As Commander-in-Chief of Israel's army, God wanted only the brave and committed.  That was the reason behind passing the soldiers through a "strainer" in order to sift out those who were not fit to win the battle.

We see this same strategy employed by God when He called Gideon to form his army that started with thirty-two thousand and ended with three hundred and with those few whole-hearted men, God gave Gideon a great victory.  We can say the same thing about King David's mighty men, each of whom could defeat a hundred men in a single battle - how?  Becuase they were fearless and fully committed to their cause as well as to their God.

 None other than the Lord Jesus Christ modeled this leadership principle when He selected the twelve apostles.  He made it easy for each one of the twelve to say no or to quit because He wanted to build a team who would be willing to die for His cause - and so they did except of course for the traitor Judas.  The communists learned this strategy and almost conquered the world by using it.  Unfortunately, most Christian leaders are slow or completely fail to even recognize this crucial leadership principle and as a result fail miserable in their mission.

 So here's the leadership lesson for those of us who are leaders: If you want to form a winning team, pick only individuals who are fully committed to your cause and who will not quit when the going gets tough.  The leader who lacks the wisdom and patience to understand and emply this leadership principle will not attain lasting success; those few who do will be unstoppable.