Download “In the World” for November 6, 2022 here.
PICKED TO RULE WITH XI
Last month, China’s President Xi Jinping secured a third term in office. In addition, he handpicked his top cabinet members, the Politburo Standing Committee, promoting and demoting so that only those personally loyal to him remain. One surprise was the promotion to the top spot among Xi’s advisors of Li Qiang, who had fallen out of public favor by his poorly planned and deeply unpopular COVID lockdown in Shanghai, where Li held top party leadership. “If Li Qiang does become premier, which looks now certain,” said Tony Saich, an expert on Chinese politics at Harvard University, “it clearly means that loyalty is more important than performance.”
PICKED TO INHERIT WITH CHRIST
Before the creation of the world, God chose us in Him to be adopted as His sons and daughters. He redeemed us through Christ, made us to the praise of His glory through our hope in Him, and marked us with a seal of the Holy Spirit when we believed. The Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance from God until the day when we receive it in His presence.
- When have you seen loyalty prized above performance? When have you seen the opposite?
- What do you think it means that we were chosen to be blameless in God’s sight?
- What’s an example of something held as a deposit or guarantee until a later date?
Additional Resources
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