Exodus 18: 13-27
13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and
they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw
all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing
for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand
around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the
people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is
brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s
decrees and instructions.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing
is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves
out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now
to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the
people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach
them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and
how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who
fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials
over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for
the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the
simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter,
because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you
will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose
capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over
thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people
at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones
they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and
Jethro returned to his own country.
Title: Leadership defined
Message: To serve
God to the fullest, a servant of God who has been appointed a leader must be
prayerful and teachable. A good leader teaches based on God’s word and shares
leadership to those who are able, godly, and honest. Jethro witnessed how Moses
worked as judge for the Israelites and he disfavored the idea of letting his
son-in-law take the responsibilities all by himself. Thus, he advised Moses to
exercise proper leadership through proper delegation. He instructed Moses to choose
and assign skilled, godly and trustworthy people to lead a certain number of
the population and exercise his job for them, acts which according to Jethro
will not bring Moses to exhaustion. Thus, the latter will happily fulfil his
job, will satisfactorily serve the people and above all, will fully function as
God appointed him to be. Truly, Jethro’s pieces of advice were words of wisdom
that enlightened Moses.
Promise to Claim: This part of the book reminds me that God,
through wise men like Jethro, gives advice. He will direct our path and make us
endure the loads he allow us to carry so long as we are prayerful and teachable.
Command to Obey: Pray for
God’s guidance and wisdom. Teach people what God exactly tells in the bible and
manifest these instructions in your life. Heed wise advice.
Warning to Heed: Making
ourselves take all the responsibilities will bring us weariness, thus incapacitating our facilities,
something that may hinder us from serving our fellows and God to the fullest.
Application: I will
keep on practicing proper delegation. I will remind myself to listen and
observe wise men’s advice.
