The Instinct of Ambition: The Story of MosesSample

Ambition and Action

Moses was born first into poverty and then quickly elevated into opportunity. Born a Hebrew slave, the possibilities of his life were limited. He would be a slave like his parents and theirs before them. But by a series of tragic decrees and miraculous intervention, Moses' life was spared, and he found himself adopted into the household of Pharaoh.

Growing up as Egyptian royalty gave Moses access to the world’s best education. There was no ambition out of his reach. Moses would have been highly educated in subjects from religion and mathematics to warfare and nation-building. Forget Ivy League schools; Moses was the prince to the most powerful throne in the world. What was out of his reach?

Yet, strangely, Moses found himself intrigued by the plight of the Hebrew people. Seeing two Hebrew slaves being beaten by their master, Moses was moved to action. He rose and struck down the Egyptian, killing him, and hiding his body in the sand. The book of Acts suggests that Moses thought that his actions might lead the Hebrews to rise and that he would be their leader. It failed. The two men he saved did not follow, but mocked him. “Who made you prince over us?” they asked.

There is an old Jewish story, not a part of scripture, that depicts the ancient understanding of Moses' ambitions. As a child sitting in Pharoah’s lab, Moses reached up and took Pharaoh's crown and placed it on his own head. Pharaoh was concerned that it was an omen. He gathered his advisors and asked for their opinions. They decided to put Moses to the test. They placed two bowls before Moses, one full of jewels; the other full of glowing embers. If the child Moses reached for the jewels, it was a sign. Of course, Moses reached for the jewels, but an angel redirected his hand to the embers. Moses picked up an ember touching it to his lip and burning his tongue, an explanation for why he later claimed to be slow of speech.

That story is not told in scripture, but it depicts Moses as a child of ambitious reach. It's worth putting ourselves to a similar test. Do you recognize your own ambitions? Are there things you are reaching for?

Ambition is certainly not a sin. Ambition has led men to achieve many good things, but we should not be naive about ambition’s power. Ambition often moves us to action, action directed by our own vision, our own motives, our own instincts.

You need a way of testing your own ambition. You need a way of knowing if your ambition is a God-given calling or just another instinctive stirring of your own way. It would take Moses a lifetime to fully answer that question. It’s not an easy one for us either.

As we walk through Moses' story, I pray he helps you recognize your own instinct for ambition and the gift God gives for keeping it in its proper place.

Do you recognize your own ambitions?