December 9 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

1 Timothy 3:1-13

¹This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
³Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
⁴One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
⁵(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
⁶Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
⁷Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
⁸Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
⁹Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
¹⁰And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
¹¹Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
¹²Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
¹³For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Devotional:

Paul is giving young Timothy, his protege, instructions for the choosing and training of elders and deacons. These requirements, however, are to be considered the norm for all Christians. They are set forth here for church leaders because of the example these men set in the Christian community. But there is no double standard. God holds all Christian men responsible for living according to the patterns here described!

Probably the most significant verses for our purposes are verses 4 and 12. Elders and deacons are to manage their households well and see that their children obey them! As we look honestly at the families of some of our church leaders, we are ashamed. No wonder our churches are often not managed well, when those who have this responsibility do not manage their own households well!

At this point, however, we must recall what we discovered in the Old Testament. In some instances the children of faithful parents did not follow in their father's ways. And God, the perfect Father, speaks of His own rebellious children!

We must also remember that basically the responsibility of maintaining a proper relationship with God rests with the individual child! No one can place all the blame for his own delinquency on his parents.

Still further back, we must go to the sovereign grace of God in redemption!

But the parents must try! This is Paul's point. Fathers must be bold, strong, diligent! They must strive to be consistent teachers and disciplinarians in the home. God is a covenant-keeping God. He has given us means which He blesses according to His own good pleasure in the salvation of souls. Leaders in the church must set the example of prayerful, diligent training in an orderly framework. Theirs is not the task of converting their children. Theirs is the task of managing their households in such a way that their children may be expected to respond to the gospel as it is offered!

Do we pray for the leaders in our churches, and for ourselves as we appoint them, or as we seek to support and emulate them?