READING:
One-year plan: Isaiah 59-64, 1 Thessalonians 5
Two-year plan: 1 Kings 20:35-21:29, John 8:2-11
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In this final week of Pastor Appreciation Month, today’s New Testament reading fits well. Here, among other requests of the believers, Paul expected the Thessalonians to “give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess 5:12-13). God has graciously given us leaders who work hard among us, guide us in following the Lord, and admonish us when necessary. This work requires leaders who live among God’s people, know them well enough to lead them, and have gained their respect enough to admonish them as needed. These leaders are not those who just want to be in a leadership position; rather, they are uniquely gifted and called to lead. They give themselves for the sake of their congregation, and their congregation is to strive to be at peace with them.
We are thus wise to honor and follow those God-given leaders out of our love and respect for them. The best church leaders I know don’t seek the honor, but they are deserving of such. As Matthew Henry put it, “They [the people] must esteem their ministers highly in love; they should greatly value the office of the ministry, honour and love the persons of their ministers, and show their esteem and affection in all proper ways, and this for their work’s sake, because their business is to promote the honour of Christ and the welfare of men’s souls.”*
Thank you for honoring the leaders in your church.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How often do you pray for those who lead you? Honor them by your intercession on their behalf.
DAILY PRAYER: “God, I praise You for the leaders You have given our congregation.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Isaiah 65-66, 2 Thessalonians 1-2
Two-year plan: 1 Kings 22, John 8:12-29
*Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 2344). Hendrickson.