January 11, 2024 — “Doing Something Worthwhile”

“Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”  Exodus 3:1-12

Moses, after being raised in Pharaoh’s court, flees to the land of Midian to work for his father-in-law as a shepherd. He did this work for many years. He wasn’t facing armies or defeating giants – he was simply keeping sheep. Some would say this is not great training for his next calling. But the Lord obviously thought otherwise. The Lord believed that caring for sheep – faithfully leading them, feeding them, caring for them and protecting them was actually great training for his next phase in life. It is not as if being a shepherd was not worthwhile. No matter the vocation we are called to do, we can make it meaningful for G-d and our neighbor.

Sometimes, like our friend Moses, we might find ourselves spending time in the wilderness, when it just seems that G-d allows us to be shut up in a corner, as it were. But all of the experiences we face in our lives can and will count on us if they do not count anywhere else. There is one thing and just one thing that matters above all other things in life, and that is faithfulness. No matter what your life may be now, or may have been in the past, or where you think it is moving to next, if you are just faithful it is sure to count, and to count a great deal.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, help me to be faithful to you today. Help me to realize that faithfulness to you is the one thing that matters most today.

Pastor Dave