The Gift of Pastors

612 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 3:1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. Stepping aside from our verse by verse exposition of 2 Samuel, to talk about leadership in the local congregation. This matter of qualified leadership was important enough that the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul lays down the qualifications to his next generation of leaders...Timothy and Titus. First of all, we need to define the term bishop. Say the word “bishop” and the first thing that usually comes to mind is a picture of a man wearing ceremonial robes and a mitre. It is highly unlikely that the bishops of Paul's day wore such garb. The Greek word for bishop is Episkope. And it means to visit, consider, and provide covering for. Jesus used the word when He wept over Jerusalem and lamented that the people of Jerusalem did not know the time of their “visitation,” (The time of their Bishop.) As the Chief Bishop, He longed to hold the people in His arms like a hen gathers in and nurtures and protects her chicks: Lu 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! The bishop spoken of in Paul's letter to Timothy then is a Christ appointed shepherd ( Jesus is the One who calls as we read in Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,) This shepherd then is assigned the task of nurturing, protecting, and equipping the local congregation. He is the mother hen, who uses the Word of God for this task. As Peter said in Ac 6:4 "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." To respond to the God-given desire to be a bishop (a pastor) get's special mention here as a good work. The attitude of desiring to take a group of Jesus followers and nurturing them to spiritual maturity through prayerful study and application of God's Word is a high calling! Thank You Jesus for the gift of pastors!