Relationship

Is it possible that our greatest need could be overlooked by us? Consider "relationship." So many of us either take our relationships for granted or we only focus on the messy parts and the burdensome parts. How might our lives change if we valued "relationship" as our greatest need? Consider Moses. Moses was an effective leader. He had led the nation of Israel through some serious challenges by the time he met up with his father-in-law Jethro in Exodus 18. Here is what we read in v13, “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people … Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good…’” Then we read this in v25, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said…” Do you know how hard it is to take advice from another, especially when they tell you, what you are doing is wrong? I am amazed at how Moses responded to his father-in-law Jethro. We live in a time when most people find it difficult to take advice from others and it is practically impossible to take advice from someone who tells us we are wrong ... and from an in-law! In Moses’ sandals many of us would have responded with “mind your own business.” But Moses not only listened without getting an attitude, the scripture tells us he “did everything” Jethro told him to do. WOW! I need an answer for how such a thing happens. The answer is found in the verses before Jethro gave Moses unsolicited advice. In Ex. 18:7,8 we read, “So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.” Those verses describe two men who had a tight relationship. That is why Jethro could speak as he did and Moses could respond as he did. They had a tight relationship where they gave each other permission to speak honestly and it would be received graciously. We need more of this kind of relationship in our lives. Relationship is key to raising the bar on our discipleship.