I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 24-26.

I have written previously that I find passages containing genealogies difficult to read and make a blog entry about.  Today’s passage is one such passage as it is a combination of genealogies and who was assigned what task in rituals we no longer follow.  However, there is one element of this passage that is worth taking careful note of.  When priests and Levites were assigned tasks in the Temple, great care was taken to make sure that not only was no preference shown, but that everyone could see that no preference was shown.  We should make an effort to follow this example when selecting leaders today.  There are tasks where it is appropriate to select people based on their relationship with the decision-makers.  There are others where it is important that those chosen not be selected on that basis.  In those latter circumstances, we need to make sure that everyone can see that no one received preferential treatment.  In those circumstances avoiding the appearance of impropriety is almost as important as avoiding impropriety.