Day 48 or February 17. Grow your own.
Our thoughts today are from Numbers chapter 27 verse 18. So the Lord said to Moses, Take
Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. After the Israelites have wandered in the
wilderness for forty years, God tells Moses to count them all again. The older generation
that left Egypt, but wouldn't trust God when the spies reported back, and so didn't go
into the promised land, are all dead now. All that is except the two faithful ones,
Joshua and Caleb, and of course Moses. This census counted all the current adult generation
who have not had the opportunity to enter the land yet. As before, only the men who
are twenty years old and over are counted. In other words, they were not counting the
people but the men who would make up the army. This method of counting had not changed by
the time Jesus came, because if you remember, when they counted the crowd after a miraculous
feeding, Matthew 14 verse 21 tells us, about five thousand men were fed that day, in addition
to all the women and children. Finally, Joshua the faithful assistant to Moses becomes the
new leader. He is the man who will lead them into the promised land.
And now today's action step. During his lifetime, Moses was preparing his successor by training
a suitable person, Joshua. Today we would call this mentoring or apprenticeship. In
Exodus chapter 24 verse 13, Joshua is described as Moses' assistant, but Moses doesn't
assume that God will confirm him as leader. He specifically asks God to appoint someone,
and God chooses Joshua. Here we have two vital aspects of leadership. Firstly, train them
and mentor them yourself wherever this is possible. This means you are able to know
them and confirm their call much more confidently. Secondly, never assume God's approval. Be
sure to ask him and then listen, and respond to his leading, just as Moses did.
Thank you.