NIV Devotions for Men - Week of October 29

Jethro

The Practical Priest

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. (Exodus 18:5)

Moses married a daughter of yours?

Yes. One day my seven daughters told me some men had forced them away from the well. We have such trouble over water rights in Midian! But an Egyptian man stood up for them. I knew right away that he was the man for one of my daughters.

You were a priest. But to the same God that Moses knew?

To God as best I knew him. How can anyone know more about God than what God reveals of himself? But Moses returned one day with the flocks, saying that Yahweh had made himself known as the one true God, in a burning bush! From that day on, it was no longer a matter of “God as we best know him.” It was a matter of serving either the God who makes himself known or serving the gods of our own conceiving.

Has there been a high point in your walk with God?

Moses brought the people to the same place where God had spoken to him. When I came to this mountain to visit, Moses told me all that the Lord had done. Then I knew that the Lord is greater than all other gods. Even though I am not myself an Israelite, I offered sacrifices to God here at this mountain. I knew we were in the presence of the God who wants all men to know him.

Cite an example of something Moses learned from you.

When I first arrived, the people came to Moses from morning to evening with their disputes, small and great, and he judged every case. It was more than any one man could handle, deciding all day about rights and vows and insults! I told him he must first teach the people the laws of God and then appoint men, truthful and just, to make judicial decisions. They would bring to Moses only the most difficult cases that they themselves were unable to decide. Moses saw that my advice was good. So in my own small way I taught Moses a better way to accomplish his goals.

Will you go now with Moses and his people?

No. It is back to Midian for me. To my flocks and daughters and the life I know. But I’ll be accompanied by the God I know and will pray only that in his perfect wisdom he will show us more and more of his beauty.

Back to the Future

• Are you growing in your understanding of who God is? Are you growing in your love for him? In what ways does your life show this to be true?
• What can you do to gain a deeper understanding of who God is?
• Why should you pursue a deeper understanding of God? Why does God want you to do so?

Read Jethro’s Story:

Read the rest of the story in Exodus 2:11-25.

This devotion is from the NIV New Men's Devotional Bible by Zondervan. Used with permission.