Praying for the New President

I was about ready to go to bed last night when I turned the TV back on to see where things stood with the election. McCain had conceded, and Obama was getting ready to speak. I figured I should listen to the next President, so I stayed up and watched a bit of the celebration.

I've skimmed several articles today that were interesting and insightful, but I'm going to leave you with these simple reminders, courtesy of Justin Taylor:

No matter who you voted for--or whether you voted at all--it's important to remember that, as President, Barack Obama will have God-given authority to govern us, and that we should view him as a servant of God (Romans 13:1, 4) to whom we should be subject (Romans 13:1, 5; 1 Peter 2:13-14).

We are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
We are to thank God for Barack Obama (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
We are to respect Barack Obama (Romans 13:7).
We are to honor Barack Obama (Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:17).

There are many qualifications to add to these exhortations--[...] but it's still mportant to remember that these are requirements for all Bible-believing Christians.

Not surprisingly, Jesus covers the entire range of options when he gave us these two commands: "love your neighbor" and "love your enemies." I'll leave it to you as to where you'd like to categorize President George W. Bush and President-Elect Barack Obama.

In God's good providence, we'll be looking at Titus 3:1 and the verses that follow on Sunday morning, November 16. I hope you'll be there.