Sermon Central
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Delegate And All For God's Glory Series
Contributed by Paul Clemente on Jul 16, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: Moses took on too much responsibilty and was oblivious to the problem!
Last week we noted how Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, grew in his faith by listening to what God had done and what God is doing through the Hebrews. Jethro was so excited about God that he joined the Hebrews in the dessert to be closer with God! Jethro loved God. We read in Exodus 18:11-12 how Jethro worshiped God!
Today we will learn how Jethro was used by God and impacted Moses and the Hebrews and ultimately us today! But first of all, let’s remind ourselves again of who Moses was. What do we know about Moses before he received the 10 commandments from God??
Moses grew up in Egypt trained as a Prince. He had compassion and fought for his people the Hebrews and so he was banished from Egypt to the dessert. In the dessert Moses met his wife and God called him to be the leader to take the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt. God empowered Moses and the people followed him.
Open your Bibles now to Exodus 18…. read along with me v13-27……
Let us go ahead and ask the main question: Remember that there were likely 2 million people with Moses; What was the main thing that Moses did wrong??
The key verse to this passage is v18: Moses took on too much responsibility!
How did that happen and what was the solution? Let’s go through the story…
Picture what was happening in v13….
What 3 things can we say from v13??
1. There were people waiting for Moses all day!
2. There was no prioritizing. Moses was trained to be a prince! What did this indicate about Moses’ attitude??
3. Moses did not see a problem! Why do you think this was for Moses??
Moses either was so busy he couldn’t see the problem or he liked to be the center of attention or Moses just felt he was stuck in a rut!
Any of these happen to us? I catch myself like this many times; either I want to be the center of attention or “ho hum” another day another dollar, such is life….. Then, I am reminded of God’s love through Jesus Christ! How amazing our God is and how amazing our calling is, in the image of God!
Moses did not see a problem but….
v14: Jethro saw the problem! You know, it’s good to have a “faith partner” who can observe our lives and confident to tell us if we have problems. Jethro saw Moses’ problem.
Jethro saw Moses’ problem but in….
v15-16: What did Moses do right??
Moses’ judgments were God-based!
v18-23: Jethro offers a solution:
a. may God be with you (i.e. depend on God)
b. everyone must realize that they are going to God, not to a man!
c. Moses must teach the people God’s laws and not keep it to himself
d. select godly men (god-fearing, trustworthy, unselfish) to oversee groups of people
e. Moses was to handle only difficult cases!
v24-27: Moses followed Jethro’s advice then Jethro went back home to Midian!
What Biblical Principles can we apply for our lives today?
First of all let us note the 2 main problems Moses had; #1, Moses did not see a need to prioritize and 2ndly, Moses likely took pride in his position; and so…. #1. We must prioritize our lives since there are only 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, and we are to take a Sabbath Day! How do we do this in a practical way??
a. we must all have a calendar always updated (at least twice a week)!
b. have a daily to do list (physical and spiritual) and prioritize hourly
c. be confident in saying no to more responsibilities! (a Filipino “curse”!)
1. Watch out for pride! What’s the solution to this?
2. Focus is God in everything!! Scripture of the Week….. Colossians 3:17…
3. Delegate and share the workload whenever possible! This goes along with prioritizing doesn’t it? Remember the 7 P’s in life which I have shared many times? In our lives we must Pray, Plan, Pray again, Prioritize, Pray again, Proceed (and delegate when you can), the Praise God!
4. Elders can be godly instruments for wisdom!
a. like Moses, let us respect, honor, and listen to godly elders!
b. Elders are to pray and look for opportunities to provide godly counsel!
Let us all take a quiet moment to pray about these things; but let us also pray for America, our President, our Congress, Supreme Court, and the Judge Nominee Brett Kavanaugh!
