Pastors: Know Again the Scriptures

130 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 4:13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Timothy is holding the fort so to speak until Paul is able to come to him. Kind of what the church and it's pastors are to do until Jesus comes! Hold the fort! Timothy, (and we) are given three areas in which to give out attention to. We are to give our mind to these three things. First on the list is reading. The word “reading” here means to “know again.” Know again the Scriptures! Read them often. God has made Himself known through the Scriptures, know Him again and again, and again as you read the Bible! Allow God to speak to you through them and speak back to Him through prayer. Remember what the early church fathers said when they were tied down with responsibilities other than ministering the word? They said in Ac 6:4 "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." Pastors are to make sure they spend time in conversation with God and “ministering” applying the Word of God. They are to exhort others from this Word and make sure that the doctrines that are taught in Scripture, (Most notably, those we have gone over in 1 Tim 3:16) are closely adhered to. Most pastors I know are voracious readers, and that's a good thing. It's obvious that the Apostle Paul was well read. He knew what was out there in the world. He knew what the philosophers of his day were touting and was always able to affirm it or repute it in accordance with the Scriptures. Though he was well read, he didn't change anything about his ministry. He didn't follow fads. He stuck to the basic doctrines and teachings of the church and summed up his preaching style with this one verse written in a letter to a hotbed of secular philosophy....Corinth. He said 1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Pastors! Be well read, but never forget this advice from Paul! “Jesus Chriist crucified!”