In an effort to emphasize the season of Thanksgiving, I’m celebrating it all through the month of November. Earlier I explained my 21 Days of Giving Thanks challenge, which you can read about here. Today let’s focus on giving thanks for the preaching of the Word.

Day 11 – Give Thanks for Nourishment through Preaching

Do you look forward to Sunday? Do you hunger and thirst for the Word? If not, one of two things is wrong. Either something is wrong with your soul, or something is wrong with how the Word is presented. Today I’m not going to focus on the negative. Rather, I’m going to focus on the positive. Any time you enjoy feasting on a pleasant dish of God’s Word, that is cause for giving thanks.

Paul said, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17) Look at those key words, “rule well” and “labor.” There are only two classes of elders/pastors in this world- those who work hard at their calling and those who do not. Any time you are fed through the preaching of the Word in church, you can give thanks that God has given you a man who takes his calling seriously. Overseeing a church is hard work, but serious Bible study is even more important. So we should honor elders who work hard at ruling well. But, most importantly, we should honor those who work hard at preaching well.

Challenge: Thank God for the nourishment you receive from the Word of God on a weekly basis. Thank your pastor for his diligent and careful study and presentation of the Word (or find a new one who takes his calling seriously).

CP