“Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.” He answered, “No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people.” But Moses said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”” (Num 10:29-32NIV)
In our opening text, we have a brief conversation between Moses and his brother-in-law, Hobab. And as we see in the conversation, Moses earnestly desired that this man would stay with them all through their journey into the Promised Land. Why? At least, the man was not God. So, he was not the one to lead and protect them on their way into the Promised Land. Why, then, would Moses, a great man of God, be eager to have him, who was not even an Israelite, on their side?
Well, even though God was the one protecting and leading the Israelites on their journey, showing them when to move and when to stop, He would not step out of heaven to give them details of where to camp and where not to camp and how to stay safe in a wilderness that was loaded with all kinds of danger. They needed a man to do that. And Hobab happened to be the right person for the job.
But as I pointed out already, Hobab was not an Israelite. The only reason he was with the Israelites at the time was Moses. He was his brother-in-law and must have come to visit him. When did he come to visit him? We are not told in the bible. It may be when his father, Jethro, came to visit him. Or it may be that he came at a different time.
However, his coming to Moses proved to be very profitable for the man of God and his people. During that short stay, the man showed himself as someone that was highly helpful in showing them how to stay safe in the wilderness. That, of course, was why Moses did not want him to leave them but to stay.
We too must be individuals that people will love to have around them. And that is by being truly helpful to them in unforgettable ways. So, don’t be a liability to anyone. Yes, all of us need helpers in our lives. But we too must learn to be helpful to our helpers. And even if we are just visiting, we should be thoughtful enough to help our hosts in ways that they will always have good and fond memories of our stay with them, however short it may be.
Well, Moses, having thought much about how helpful Hobab had been to the entire Israelite community during his short stay with them, wished he could make him permanently stay with them. But the man was unwilling to stay. And that must have been because he wanted to return to his country and to his people in order to realise whatever dreams he had for himself.
How, then, did Moses make him stay with them? First, it was by letting him know how highly they valued his generous and free help to them. Second, it was by assuring him that they would share with him whatever good things the Lord gave to them. That means his stay with them would not be a waste of time or a waste of his life – he too would be treated as one of them, qualified to enjoy as much goodness of God as any of them when they came into the Promised Land.
What is this telling us? It is that we too should learn to place proper value on our relationships with those in our lives. See, there are people that God has planted in our lives to make life easy for us in various ways. And these people are actually working, fulfilling His will in our lives. It will be wise of us, then, to value highly what they are doing for us and to show it.
What I mean is that we must learn to verbally express our appreciation to all the people God has been using to make life easy, meaningful and profitable for us. In other words, don’t keep your appreciation of others to yourself. Instead, express it to them clearly and wholeheartedly. Otherwise, how will they know that you truly appreciate them?
Then learn to share the good things of your life with those that are contributing to your prosperity, progress and peace of mind. Yes, God is the giver of all good things. But it is people that He often uses to give the good things of life to us. So, as we are showing Him gratitude for the good things He is giving us, we should also be showing heartfelt gratitude to those He is using for us. And one fine way to do that is not to be selfish with the good things He is giving us but to freely share them with those He has used in making it possible for these things to come to us. Otherwise, we may at some point lose the help they are giving to us to some other people who will duly appreciate them.
So, as we come to this season of celebration, remember all the people that have been instrumental to your enjoyment of life this year and share good things with them. How far doing that will go is not what I can say? But it may just make the Hobab in them stay with you for life. Or what do you think?
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