1 Chronicles 9:13 “And their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—1,760. They were very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.”
Within 1 Chronicles are some real nuggets of spiritual insight. 1 Chronicles 9:13 begins with the facts about a group of priests and tells us there were 1760 that were heads of homes who would be involved in the work that was to be done at the House of God or the temple. Along with the facts comes a description of these men that catch our attention for these men were very able men for the work that they would be assigned. They were very able or as one version states they were capable.
Not everyone can do everything (nor should do everything) and not everyone is qualified to do some specific things. Some tasks demand that those doing them are able or capable. Think of a brain surgeon or air traffic controller, for instance. The writer here in 1 Chronicles says these men were able for the work. They had what it took to do the job.
As I read and re-read this verse, I could not help but think of what Jethro told his son-in-law Moses as he instructed Moses to select helpers. In Exodus 18:21 one reads of the qualifications to be a helper and it reads “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” The first characteristic was able men. They had to be capable.
Having been a part of the process of selecting literally thousands of student leaders a year to serve in various roles we worked hard to help determine what we were looking for in the candidate. After asking about their relationship to Christ (which is first and foremost) the list included a review of their character. We wanted to review their concern for people. We wanted to review their commitment, which included their work ethic. We then reviewed their competence, which was the question of being capable of doing the job. Along with being competent and capable was the question of their capacity. We wanted to probe to see if they could handle more responsibilities. Then we asked the question if they were coachable. Almost all have to grow into a new position so while being capable we were looking to expand their capabilities and that only happened with being coachable. We also wanted to review if they were living a Christ-like life in order to be faithful to Him and an example to others. The last question we wanted to ask was about their calling to this particular service. With these questions and maybe a few others, we felt we could determine if a student was able to serve in the desired role.
*Exodus 18:21 and 1 Chronicles 9:13 are great guides for evaluating potential leaders.
Practical application: As you look at the last part of 1 Chronicles 9:13 how does it help you in being a servant for the Lord and how does it help you that are selecting others for various roles?
Continue Strong being a Capable servant for the Lord
And remember to DATE the Word