^{Hi, everyone.  I'm in Exodus, Chapter 18.  Moses and the people of Israel have left centuries of slavery in Egypt and are now discovering that freedom has its own set of challenges.  At this point, Moses reunites with his wise father-in-law, Jethro, who has some advice to Moses about the importance of delegation, and the characteristics of a good leader.  We pick the narrative at verse thirteen:}   

¹³  And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.
¹⁴  So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?"
¹⁵  And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
¹⁶  When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws."
¹⁷  So Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good.
¹⁸  Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.
¹⁹  Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
²⁰  And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
²¹  Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Note:  Characteristics of leaders:  competent (able), reverent, honest, despising anything that would tarnish integrity.  The same characteristics are required for leaders of small or great authority.  The Lord Jesus would later speak of those who are faithful in small things will be given greater responsibilities.

Luke 16:10 (New King James Version of the Bible)
¹⁰  He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

I suspect this is true in employment or volunteer matters as well as in spiritual or religious matters.  If you are ambitious, be a servant.  If you want to be promoted, prove to be trustworthy.  But there is a caveat to this principle in matters of business and employment.  In those arenas some people prosper through deceit and self-promotion, and gain advancement when others were more deserving.  The Lord sees through such things, and is never beguiled or fooled.  Better to be the faithful employee who is overlooked than the one who is promoted but does not deserve the promotion. 

Back to what the Lord wants.  Take a look at your life and your circumstances.  What do you like about your life?  What do you dislike?  What are your opportunities?  Do you think that you are where you are by chance, or do you think there is a purpose for you living where you are, with the people that you know, with the challenges and hopes that you have.  Are you making the most of your opportunities or are you too busy wishing things would change to actually do anything? What does being faithful to the Lord in all things, small or great, look like with the unique characteristics of your life right now?  Everyone has leadership responsibilities, to make the most of their own lives, and most have more beyond that.  How are you doing?

Exodus 14:1-31 (NKJV)
¹  Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
²  "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.
³  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.'
⁴  Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so.

Note: Oddly enough, the Lord directed Moses and Israel to back themselves into a corner.  They had numerous routes into the Sinai Peninsula without having the cross the Red Sea.  The Lord wanted them to be vulnerable, apparently to draw out Pharaoh, whose heart was hardened yet again.  We know that this ultimately led to one of the greatest miracles of the Bible and the ruin of Pharaoh's army, but there's something about glorifying the Lord that required Israel to be vulnerable, maybe not so secure. 

I've learned that "spiritualizing" everything that happens in the Old Testament in order to make personal application can be overdone, but perhaps there is a connection to this strange maneuver and the words of St. Paul: 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The purpose of our lives is to glorify the Lord, but that could mean a lack of comfort and security, two conditions of which I am very fond.  In response to these words, however, maybe I need to pray that the Lord be glorified in my life and to know the power of Christ, even though it is a risky prayer.  It also makes me look at my life with a different perspective.  I have nothing that compares to the vulnerable position of Israel at this point in the episode, or the trials of St. Paul for that matter, but I still have parts of my life that are uncomfortable, that I wish were safer and more secure.  Maybe I need to re-think about the importance of comfort and security in life.  Maybe I need to ask myself if those uncomfortable parts are opportunities for the Lord to be glorified, and if so, how?

Hello, everyone.
My apologies for the length of time between posts.  I've finished Genesis and am now into Exodus, particularly at the point when God passes judgment upon the nation of Egypt.  I found reflecting on the episode with commentary from the Apostle Peter very thought-provoking and a little sobering.  Trying to put into words my thoughts on what it means to "fear" the Lord was difficult, so please forgive me if they seem awkward.  Hopefully this post, like the others, will encourage you to prayerfully study and consider the Scriptures.
-Dan Vellinga 

Exodus 12:1-51 (New King James Version of the Bible) 
¹  Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
²  "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
³  Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

⁴  And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.
⁵  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Compare this with the Apostle Peter's commentary on the event: (1 Peter 1:18-19)  “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Note:  According to the International Critical Commentary, the "aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers" is not necessarily the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but any number of lifestyles and philosophies, pagan or nonreligious, that served as a substitute for Christ.  An argument against the traditions being the Old Testament sacrificial system is that it was not aimless or vain, but covered the sins of the people and pointed to and was fulfilled by Christ Jesus.  The point is, perhaps, that how we lived our lives before we submitted ourselves to the Lord Jesus was aimless and vain.  There is no point to life, if life is lived without Christ.

One common feature of my (and other's) "tradition" is that I didn't really need redemption.  I was fine, was good enough, was not trapped in sin, was not in danger of judgment.  All lies.  I was not fine, not good enough, was trapped in sin, and was in danger of judgment and separation from a just and holy God.  It may not be as dramatic is it was for those slaves, whose forebears had been slaves for centuries, but I was redeemed from slavery just the same. 

Now, knowing that the Father impartially judges according to my work, I need to conduct my stay on this earth in fear, a reverence for God to whom I am accountable.  The world is like Egypt of old, that entices and enslaves and is at enmity against all who would seek freedom.  Perhaps living in this kind of fear is living with the realization that I no longer fit in this world, am at odds with it and it with me; and that I cannot follow Christ and fit into this world.  I should expect to be controversial sometimes, and that some people will not like me, and that they don't understand when I don't pursue what they deem worthy of avid pursuit.  It is a dying world, and dying world system and it is in denial about its condition.  Living in fear and reverence for the Father does not fit the mentality of this world system.  I need to be more concerned about what the Father thinks than what the world thinks.