Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was….” Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
~Numbers 27:12, 13, 15-17
This really stuck out to me. Here was a guy who had not wanted to go back to Egypt because it was going to make him uncomfortable. Now, a few years later, God has said, “It’s time to wrap it up buddy”, and there were no gripes. Moses wasn’t afraid, he wasn’t begging for his life, or for more life. Rather, God had developed such a heart in him for His people that his only prayer was for the people he lead.
This is a great lesson for all of us in leadership. Are we so selfless in our leadership we are praying for those whom we are leading when the end is near, rather than trying to find a way to prolong the inevitable? I pray we all take a step closer to the leader we saw in Moses…humble, and yet such a passion for his people.
