Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

This is ultimately what every Christian minister of any sort has to do, because none of us are around forever. Simply put, we have to trust God with His children! That doesn’t remove our personal responsibility to be faithful with the opportunities we are given, but it is a strong reminder that we aren’t in control. The most important thing here is the matter of laying a foundation in the Word. At the point Paul was saying these things there were some collections of Jesus’ teachings circulating, and of course the Old Testament existed fully, but most of Paul’s letters that made it into the New Testament hadn’t yet been written. On top of that, the printing press hadn’t been invented yet, so any copies of Scripture had to be hand-written. We have far more advantages today, but sadly, the average Christian is largely Biblically illiterate, knowing only a smattering of the things God has caused to be written of what He has said. Recently my younger daughter, who in addition to her “day job” is the minister of music at her church, was commenting that members of some denominations tend to have very shallow roots, having been taught to focus on emotions rather than the Word. Emotions can be very powerful, but they are also very unreliable. We need to put down roots in the Bible, particularly since it is so available to us, and not be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14) We need to know we are saved, and not just feel we are saved. Such assurance comes from a personal relationship with the Savior, nurtured by daily feeding on His Word. That should be the goal of every minister for all the people under their care.

I was raised in a very Bible-grounded family, which was a huge blessing. I read the Bible through for the first time by the time I was 10, but that didn’t mean at all that I had worked it into my life and applied it consistently. That said, one of the highlights of my life was the moment one of the believers in this church, a recovering alcoholic, declared, “You’re addicted to the Bible. I know addiction, and you’re addicted.” I was so overjoyed to have that assessment of myself that I wept. Very few people I deal with have the advantages I did as a child, so I have to teach them to value the Word, to hunger for it and take it in consistently. I strongly recommend  Wayne Cordeiro’s SOAP system of devotions, but not everyone relates well to that. God has created each person individually, so I’ve got to remember that no one system of devotions fits everyone. I make my own devotions available through my blog, as a blessing and encouragement to all who would choose to read them, but I would rather they search out the Scriptures themselves, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every believer should have their own personal relationship with God, not just tagging along, so to speak, with someone else. However, in the early steps, having such a guide is very helpful, and at times essential, so I’m not to draw back from it. I want to “present everyone fully mature in Christ,” (Colossians 1:28) for their blessing and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder, and for showing me what I’m to speak on Sunday. May I indeed encourage the believers as You intend, so that they may depend on You and not on being spoon-fed by me, and so grow to be all that You intend them to be, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!