The Daily Word: Saturday, June 8th, 2019
1 Kings 3:3-4:34
Acts 6:1-15
Psalm 126:1-6
Proverbs 16:26-27
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Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.” – Acts 6:2
People from the community came to the twelve apostles – the founders of the early church – with a complaint. Their “widows were neglected in the daily distribution” (v 1). There were widows in the community who were not receiving the food they needed! But the apostles didn’t respond as their community expected. In fact, their stance was, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables” (v 2). How rude! Why wouldn’t they drop everything and make sure these widows were taken care of?
The apostles knew something that we should never forget: our primary responsibility is always to be in the word. Our primary purpose is to “minister to the Lord” (Acts 13:2). There is a difference between ministering to other people, and ministering to the Lord. We minister to the Lord through prayer, fasting (see Acts 13:2) and loving His word. The apostles refused to accept any job description that would impede their ability to have ministry to God as anything other than a priority.
Don’t worry: the widows got their food. The apostles appointed “seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (v 3), who could meet the widows’ needs. And the apostles “…[gave themselves] continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
Make the word your priority. I know you don’t have time! But you have to make time. Ministry to God matters most in the end.
Prayer:
Father, help me to have good priorities. I want to minister to You first! I want to minister to You most. Help me to remove anything and everything that distracts me from my ultimate purpose: ministry to you!
Archives
See commentary from this day in 2014.
See commentary from this day in 2015.
See commentary from this day in 2016.
See commentary from this day in 2017.
See commentary from this day in 2018.
© Michael D. White, 2019. All rights reserved.