Press the arrow to listen to Brooke Fraser sing “How Great Thou Art” at Hillsong 2008 as you read today’s devotion about focus.

Scripture
They continued, “If you think we’ve done a good job so far, give us this country for our inheritance. Don’t make us go across the Jordan.” Moses answered the families of Gad and Reuben: “Do you mean that you are going to leave the fighting that’s ahead to your brothers while you settle down here? Why would you even think of letting the People of Israel down, demoralizing them just as they’re about to move into the land God gave them? That’s exactly what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to survey the country. Numbers 32:5-12

Observation
What has surprised me most as a leader is the capacity of people to make selfish requests  of me and the whole team at the expense of others. The nature of being a leader is to focus on the mission and sacrifice to accomplish it. It is a head spinner to meet a few who think only of their own wants and not the needs of everyone else. But such people do exist and they regularly seek out leaders.

Moses was almost ready to let go of the steering wheel, but nonetheless, he too faced selfishness among the people. Two tribes didn’t want to go over the river to fight. They saw the open fields and empty towns around them on the east side of the river and asked to stay put. They did not offer to fight, just to settle. There actions were not just selfish, they were demoralizing to everyone else.

What stands out in this story was Moses’ leadership. Moses did exactly what a leader should do by pointing out the ramifications of their selfish choice. The tribes of Rueben and Gad couldn’t see that self-centredness because they didn’t have a leader’s point of view. Moses could see it because he looked at every decision in terms of the prime mandate: leave Egypt, survive the desert and conquer the land flowing with milk and honey. That sentence kept Moses awake nights and moving on in the daylight. Moses did what a leader is supposed to do. He called the people back to the mission even when they didn’t want to do it, so that they could have what they had longed for over the past 40 years. That is a tough thing to do, but that is leadership.

Application
The difference between a leader and a non-leader is selflessness. A leader wants what is best for all the people over the longest time. A non-leader wants what is best for himself, immediately. In every decision I face, I am at the cross roads of that decision. Will I be selfish or panoramic in my outlook? I want to be one found on the west side of the river, even if it means that I’m the last one to find a home for myself.

Prayer
Father, today I ask that you would help me in every decision to keep the mission in view. Help me not to be deterred by selfishness whether it is in me or in others. Keep my eyes on Jesus, focused forward so that all of your people can experience all of your blessings. Amen.