From all the teachings that I have heard, I have never really heard anyone talk about Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. But last night, I was reading my Bible (I am reading the book of Exodus at the moment), a portion I have read once or twice before, but this time, God showed it to me in a different light.
In Exodus 16 and 17, we hear the Israelites complaining and gnashing their teeth quite a number of times at God and Moses because they feel that they have been brought into the desert to die. Indeed!... lol... But here is Moses, as soft-hearted as he already is, having to deal with these complaining and ungrateful Israelites. That must have been a handful for him. But God in His own splendid wisdom was preparing a way for Moses to be relieved of some of the stress He was feeling at the time, so that Moses did not give up and turn around. In any case Moses always presents His case to God and so it was only about time that God was going to straighten Moses' path. (Prov. 3:5-6).
Along comes Jethro, who had not made it a point to visit Moses until this time. How did Jethro find Moses anyway, since the Israelites had been moving around quite a lot? All this was God's plan. So let's see how God worked. In Exodus 18, Moses explains to Jethro, his role as the judge of the Israelites in verses 15-16. He would have probably been expecting a compliment from Jethro on how he was handling the business of judging the people well and his sacrifice of doing the job from "morning to evening". However, Jethro does the opposite in verses 17-23, showing Moses a better way of being a judge. This may seem insignificant but it is not because through this advice Jethro gave, we see the beginning of the formation of the judicial system which most countries have developed. And this idea all came from a priest of God, around the time that the Israelites were being taken to the Promise Land.
I want us to concentrate on the fact that Jethro is mostly considered to be a minor character in the Bible. Although people do not really look at the story of Jethro, he was, in reality, a major instrument for God. First of all, he hinted at the structure for the judicial system that we have in our nations at the moment, and then went on to provide Moses with the means through which he could rest and not be too stressed out by the people. This is Jethro's story; an insignificant one indeed.
This just got me thinking about the fact that in our lives today as Christians, we see a lot of our fellow Christians doing big things and achieving great things in the Kingdom. They are the Moses's of our time. But we forget that some of us have been chosen by God to be Jethros to advice the Moses' and encourage them not to get weary, while establishing "judicial systems" in our own little ways. People do not regard us because we are not in the "spotlight" like the Moses', however, we must remember that God has different plans for each and every member of Christ's body (Jeremiah 29:11-14). In any case, who is supposed to be the "spotlight"? Us or God? We must remember that we are only vessels for God's Kingdom and His Glory, and that's that. No more no less.
So in our walk with Christ, as we continue to strive to live for him, let us remember that there are Moses' and there are Jethros, each with a different purpose. Appreciate who God has made you because the little that you contribute to someone's life will go a long way to blessing other people through that little act of kindness or that advice or that sacrifice. Remember that God has called us called all those who love Him according to His purpose for our lives (Romans 8:28), so let's live according to that purpose. You are equally important.
God bless you!! Live for Christ!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment