SCRIPTURE: 1Timothy (NIV) 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
OBSERVATION: Paul was writing to Timothy, his young son in the Lord. He was leaving some instructions on how to lead the church and some comments about Timothy’s personal life. Reading of the scriptures should be both private and public; it being linked here to preaching and teaching, it is proper to see it as referring to public reading, as the NIV gives it.
Public reading was so important in the early church days. It was a part of services in the temple and synagogues, so it would carry over to the gatherings of the early church. Reading from the scriptures would give a high level of authority to the preaching and teaching. Doctrine has its foundation in the written Word of God!
And in a day when scrolls were very few and books not yet being printed, how else would believers get to know the word (letters from Paul, etc.) unless someone read it to them!
APPLICATION: Here is a simple ministry that everyone reading this SOAP is qualified and capable of doing: Reading the Word of God out loud!
Today, if there are people living in your neighborhood who do not have a Bible, or cannot read, I encourage you to set a time each day or each week for them to come to your home, or yard, to hear you read the Bible!
A ministry to elderly people who may have trouble with their eyesight—read the Word of God to them. A ministry to your family around the dinner table—read the Word of God. When visiting the hospital—read the Word of God.
PRAYER: Holy Spirit, use this simple idea to spark ministries that reach the lost and strengthen believers. May the Word of God, which you inspired, be powerful in the lives of the readers and the hearers. In Jesus Name, Amen!
Pastor Leon
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