Wednesdays with Moses

Read Exodus 18:24-27 – So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land. (NKJV)

Moses heeded the advice of his father-in-law. At face value, that may not seem like such a big deal. However, Moses is the leader of an entire nation, ruling over even their smallest issues and enjoying God’s stamp of approval through amazing miracles and remarkable provision. While the Bible labels Moses as a “most humble” man, he had plenty of reason not to be. So when his father-in-law (of all people) tells him that he’s leading ineffectively, we might expect a different reaction. But Moses heeded the instruction and made the changes necessary to take advantage of Jethro’s wisdom. Are we able to respond like that? Pride easily gets in the way of good advice. The book of Proverbs paints pride as the enemy of wisdom, because it encourages us to reject the wiser options before us. Just as Moses acted with wisdom in applying Jethro’s insights, we would be wise to pay attention to the wisdom and advice offered to us—even, and especially, when we think we don’t need someone else’s help. Often, like Jethro, they could be God’s messenger to help us be more effective.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.