'TOB'

Okay, GOD wants me to talk to you about Tob.

Yesterday, the sermon was taken out of Judges 11 and the preacher preached from just a few verses there. However, what caught my attention was just one verse in the entire scripture for the day.

Judges 11:3

“Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him”.

Now, at the time Jephthah fled from his brethren he was what one would call a ‘nobody’. In fact, his brothers chased him away from home because he was the son of a harlot! However, the ‘vain’ (worthless) men ‘went out with him’ when he got to Tob! Ironically, however, they that appeared and were considered worthless were able to identify worth. They identified Jephthah’s worth and followed him!

In life, many follow those who are already famous. However, when one follows you and believes in you when you are not yet successful, he or she recognizes the worth in you that remains hidden from the rest. You should be careful to keep him or her close to you on your journey to success.

The more I reflected on ‘Tob’ the more I realized that many of us fail to recognize value. We often look at one’s origin and shun him or her – we chase him or her away because of certain circumstances. However, today, I want you and me to ask GOD to open our eyes to the value in people. That value that no one else can see. This value is usually something that only the Spirit of GOD can reveal to us. This is exactly what happened when Peter said that JESUS was the Christ. It was not revealed to him by flesh and blood but by the Spirit of GOD.

Matthew 16:17-18

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

One day, I met a young woman that I would only meet occasionally and she said something that shocked me. She said, within the hearing of my sister, ‘but do people know what a good heart you have’? Now, this is something I have always known about myself but did not think that anyone else had noticed. You must remember that this particular woman and I rarely met and, when we did, we did not talk for long for her to notice something like that. Now, a few months back, a man who I had only met for the first time that day said the same thing to his girl. He told her not to ‘let go of me’ because I have a good heart. These people see things about people or about situations that no one else has told them...things that only GOD can reveal to one. It is also without a doubt that GOD revealed it to me!

Consequently, today, my prayer is that GOD reveals your worth to you so that you can glorify His name upon revelation as well as when He reveals it to someone else. It is my belief that GOD put that worth in you for a reason and that that reason is so that multitudes would be delivered and His name glorified!

I would like to encourage you that GOD has revealed your worth to someone else. However, the question is, ‘do you sometimes see the value in others despite their origins’? I must say that I have sometimes been guilty of not seeing the worth that is hidden from one’s physical possessions or acclaim. Therefore, my prayer is that GOD reveals your worth as well as that of others to me. I pray that He opens my eyes to things about strangers and strange situations that no one has ever told me before.

It is also important for us to be aware that one has to have a following. Everyone needs at least one person who sees his or her worth and follows him or her. This following is also that which GOD will use you to influence or to change multitudes for His glory. I am of the view that the lives of those ‘worthless’ men in Tob who recognized Jephthah’s worth did not remain the same, especially, after he became ruler in Gilead – their lives changed! In other words, every revelation has a prize attached to it. In fact, those who are blessed enough to recognize your worth will be beneficiary to the prize attached to it just as Peter was. You see, it was due to the revelation that JESUS was the Christ that JESUS said that upon Peter (‘this rock’) He would build His Church! It is true that I can never think of those two people who saw my hidden worth without praying for them. In fact, the man won my heart and I am quick to see his good side and to put in a good word about him to his future wife. I must also say that I will often drop whatever I am doing just so I can honor his invitations.

Therefore, I implore you to be one of the seemingly worthless men in Tob who followed Jephthah. I pray that your inner eyes and ears will see and hear what others do not see and that you will follow a future leader.

Prayer

Dear GOD, I ask you to reveal my worth to me so that I can glorify you for it.

Heavenly Father, I thank you and glorify your name because you have sometimes revealed my hidden worth to those with whom I rarely interact and who do not know me well enough. However, I admit that I have sometimes written off others as worthless. Please forgive me. Today, I ask you to reveal the hidden worth of all those you bring my way to me so that I can appreciate them more and align with them if I have to. I also ask you to give me the prize that is always attached to revelation of hidden worth. In JESUS’ name, I have prayed, amen.   

GOD BLESS YOU.