The New President and Our Obedience to Christ

Wednesday - January 20th

Scripture to Read Today: 1 Timothy 2:1-4

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Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority

so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives

marked by godliness and dignity.

1 Timothy 2:2 NLT

Today Jill Biden will hold the Bible upon which her husband, Joe Biden, places his hand and takes the presidential oath of office. She will have to use two hands. The 127-year-old leather-bound family Bible is five inches thick and has a heavy metal clasp to keep it closed.

When The Late Show host Stephen Colbert asked about the significance of the big Bible to Biden and his family back in December, the president-elect linked the Bible to his heritage and his entire political career. "It's just been a family heirloom in the Biden side of the family, and every important date is there. Every time I've been sworn in for anything, the date has been in that. It's inscribed in the Bible." Biden has used it in all seven of his swearing-in ceremonies as a U.S. senator and twice for the oaths of office he took as President Barack Obama's vice president.

Presidents are not required to take the oath of office using a Bible. Some have chosen not to do so, but most have. Many vice-presidents and presidents have decided to use historically significant Bibles. Kamala Harris will be sworn in as vice president on the Bible owned by the first black justice on the US Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall. President Trump was sworn in on Lincoln's Bible. President Obama used Lincoln's Bible for his first inauguration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s Bible for his second taking of the oath.

Seeing the new president being sworn in with his hand on the Bible with so much meaning to him and his family should prompt us to pray for him as followers of Christ. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 reminds us that our responsibility as citizens of Heaven living as citizens of the United States of America includes praying for "kings and all those in authority." While we do not have a king in our country, the point leader in our land is the president. Whether you voted for Mr. Biden or not, God commands you to pray for him.

As we pray for the new president, God says the very act of praying for him will shape our attitude and demeanor toward Mr. Biden and other government leaders. Praying for him will help us live lives marked by godliness and dignity. Ultimately Paul tells Timothy that our prayers and the spirit those prayers for all in authority creates in us "is good and pleases God" (1 Timothy 2:3). Notice that in verse four of Paul's words to Timothy, the result of praying for men and women in authority will be the spreading of the truth of the Gospel.

As the new administration assumes its role in leading our nation, let's pray for President Biden and Vice President Harris. Let's do what is good and pleases God. Let's do what God says will help spread the truth of the Gospel! Let's pray for the new president and his administration.

Whether or not you voted for Joe Biden, praying for the new president is part of your obedience to Christ!