Exodus 18:24-26
"Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves."
"Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves."
Yesterday I started this message, so I suggest you read yesterday's blog first.
Picking up on our learning curve from lessons we can learn from Moses and Jethro.
lesson 1: Disciple family first (Exodus 18:5)
God expects mom and dad to raise their children to know Him and to love Him.
Jesus tells us that our primary responsibility as His followers is to teach and make disciples.
Doesn’t it make sense that a parent who follows Christ would want to teach their children first?
Moses sent his family away when he apparently didn’t feel that he could be a husband, dad, and the leader of Israel all at the same time. Sometimes as parents we allow our responsibilities at work, or even at church, to distract us from what must be our primary objective; to raise our children to know and love the Lord. The modern church has allowed parents to become lazy in this way by hiring paid professionals to be the primary spiritual provider for kids.
We’ve enabled parents to hand off their kids to a Sunday School teacher, or a youth or children’s minister and we have created the expectation that the church will take care of their Spiritual provision.
But mom and dad, no matter what mistakes the church has made in this regard, God’s expectation is clear.
You have been given the mandate by God to lead your kids to Spiritual maturity.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - 4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Matt 28:19-20 - Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Eph 6:4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Lesson 2: Celebrate God and His teaching with fellow believers (Ex.18:10-12)
The first thing Jethro led Moses and the leaders of Israel to do was to celebrate how God rescued them from the oppression of slavery in Egypt. What a celebration this must have been. When I consider that Jesus Christ has freed me from my oppression of slavery from my sin, I have the same response.
I want to celebrate! Praise God, I don’t have to die in my sin!
I can live with God, I can co-exist with Him because of what Jesus did for me.
Jethro proclaimed that because of the testimony of the Israelite nation that “I know that God is greater than any other gods”
Hebrews 10:23-25 - Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Colossians 3:16 - Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
1 Thess 5:11 - 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Titus 2:2-4 -Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers; Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,
Picking up on our learning curve from lessons we can learn from Moses and Jethro.
lesson 1: Disciple family first (Exodus 18:5)
God expects mom and dad to raise their children to know Him and to love Him.
Jesus tells us that our primary responsibility as His followers is to teach and make disciples.
Doesn’t it make sense that a parent who follows Christ would want to teach their children first?
Moses sent his family away when he apparently didn’t feel that he could be a husband, dad, and the leader of Israel all at the same time. Sometimes as parents we allow our responsibilities at work, or even at church, to distract us from what must be our primary objective; to raise our children to know and love the Lord. The modern church has allowed parents to become lazy in this way by hiring paid professionals to be the primary spiritual provider for kids.
We’ve enabled parents to hand off their kids to a Sunday School teacher, or a youth or children’s minister and we have created the expectation that the church will take care of their Spiritual provision.
But mom and dad, no matter what mistakes the church has made in this regard, God’s expectation is clear.
You have been given the mandate by God to lead your kids to Spiritual maturity.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - 4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Matt 28:19-20 - Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Eph 6:4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Lesson 2: Celebrate God and His teaching with fellow believers (Ex.18:10-12)
The first thing Jethro led Moses and the leaders of Israel to do was to celebrate how God rescued them from the oppression of slavery in Egypt. What a celebration this must have been. When I consider that Jesus Christ has freed me from my oppression of slavery from my sin, I have the same response.
I want to celebrate! Praise God, I don’t have to die in my sin!
I can live with God, I can co-exist with Him because of what Jesus did for me.
Jethro proclaimed that because of the testimony of the Israelite nation that “I know that God is greater than any other gods”
Hebrews 10:23-25 - Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Colossians 3:16 - Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
1 Thess 5:11 - 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Titus 2:2-4 -Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers; Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,
ACTION STEP:
Jethro was preaching to the people. We need to listen to this advice today? We must find leaders to listen to and adjust our actions.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is greater than anything else in your life?
Start building each other up to learn more, to serve more, to teach more?
Find someone who is doing what you want to do and then learn from them. Put what you learn into action.
If you have been processed then, be a Jethro to other Moses'.
I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself.
Jethro was preaching to the people. We need to listen to this advice today? We must find leaders to listen to and adjust our actions.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is greater than anything else in your life?
Start building each other up to learn more, to serve more, to teach more?
Find someone who is doing what you want to do and then learn from them. Put what you learn into action.
If you have been processed then, be a Jethro to other Moses'.
I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself.
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