Friday after Oculi
Posted on March 12, 2021 by under
Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:8-12 (NKJV)
3:8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
Devotion
The qualifications for the office of deacon are listed in today’s text. Whenever you seek a heart doctor or a plumber, you want to know that the person is qualified and able to perform the sought-after work. In addition to the qualifications, there is also the placing of a man into the office. When God calls a qualified man into the office, you know that God desires to use that man and He is active in that ministry. In yesterday’s reading, St. Paul includes both ideas of qualified and called when he says that they were “approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel” (1 Thess. 2:4).
Today’s text requires the deacon to be “holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.” The word “mystery” refers to something which needs to be revealed. The Christian faith that God’s Son atoned for the sins of the world is not known by natural knowledge. The mystery that the Father has provided forgiveness through His Son is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. The deacon trusts and holds to the Scriptural mystery of the Christian faith so that he knows in his conscience that his sins are forgiven. The deacon is not sinless, but through faith he is forgiven, and in his actions he strives to be blameless.
The faith and words of the man of God ought to be “examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:3). Thus, let us follow both the faith of deacons, as well as their service of thankfulness.
Prayer: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of Thy humble servants and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to be our defense against all our enemies, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
