A mentor to Moses

If we are serious about leadership, one thing’s for sure, it can be difficult to make it without a mentor. Their influence on our lives will be incalculable. But sadly, we can’t find many Jethros in the Christian world. We don’t know an awful lot about Jethro. History is divided as to whether or not Jethro was a follower of God. The Bible perhaps indicates that he was. He first appears, unannounced. In Exodus 2 he bears the name of Reuel which means friend of God. It’s a name which was presumably chosen by his parents to indicate his families’ relationship with the Lord Almighty. He said “Praise be to the Lord” when Moses told him about the Passover in Exodus 18:10. I am sometimes amazed at the people God raises up to perform various tasks. They are the last people we would choose! But perhaps He chooses them because they have the one qualification that matters: they are friends of God, people he can count on, people he can trust, people who have proven their loyalty and their faithfulness to Him in good times and bad times, in big things and small.

Jethro elevated a significant ministry.

The hallmark of real men and women of God is that they elevate other people’s ministries, not their own. You never see Jethro promoting himself- but you see him bringing God into the life of Moses in remarkable ways. He certainly contributed to Moses ‘successes. It’s an awesome plumb-line of our effectiveness for God – not how successful we are, but how successful other people are because of us.

He was a father figure.

It’s doubtful whether Moses ever knew his real father Amram. The nearest thing he would have had to a father figure as he grew up was probably Pharaoh himself. That is of course until Jethro entered his life. We need human spiritual fathers too. Jethro played a good part in promoting Moses’ life.