^“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” 1 Peter 2:9

Proverbs can teach us many things. Some of these lessons we do not learn or even see until years later, when maybe we are in the right place to receive them. There is an African proverb which says ‘a fish never rots from the tail’. What I take this to me, as there are many lessons, is that in a practical sense once a fish comes out of the water it will physically rot from the head – not the tail. In an organisational context this means that no matter how good the front of house or face to face workers are, if the director or head of the organisation is not a good leader, the company is going to struggle to thrive. I see principle in some schools. The secretary is welcoming, warm and effective as are the teachers yet the school is failing, why? Because the head teacher isn’t approachable or are rude and run the school as a dictatorship. Similarly in the business world, once the director demonstrates both by word or action that they do not regard the workers, then productivity suffers and the workplace becomes a battleground.

The proverb which sits hand in hand with this one is the ‘trickle down’ effect. Like rain trickling down from the top apex of an umbrella, influence which trickles down from the top is wider reaching than that which tries to come up the other way. For example, if the cook is happy, the restaurant thrives as people will come far and near for the quality of the food. Conversely if the boss is a tyrant there will be a high turnover or staff.

If we are Gods representatives on earth, what is our influence? Do people want to serve or even know the God we serve because of what they see in us? In our families or circle of friends are we spiritually the head or the tail?

Let us embrace all that God has to offer as we seek to make our election sure.

Philips, Craig and Dean sing ‘Shine on us’. Click on the picture to listen.