“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained”    (1 Timothy 4:6).

The older professor stood before the class of very young looking ministerial students. Seated before him was a classroom of men who were training for the pastoral ministry. Though this Bible institute had a wonderful enrollment of men and women, in this particular class only those who were training to be a pastor would be taking this course. The professor had concluded the material he wanted to cover that day and just sensed that he ought to open the class for closing questions. As soon as he said, “Well class, we finished a little early today. I suppose I could dismiss you, or I could take a few questions if you had any.” Immediately a hand went up, and the question was asked,” How do we come up with brand new topics about the Bible when we get to preach? It seems hard to me to try and figure out how to say something new. I got to preach the last two weeks at my home church, and I so much wanted to say something brand new. But I couldn’t think of anything! How do I do this?” The old wise professor smiled and encouraged the class to be sure to study hard and prepare well every single week. But when it comes right down to it, we are going to be teaching the same blessed Book that every generation of preachers has shared. We too must be applying it in practical ways. The old prof reminded the class that Paul encouraged Timothy to put the brethren in remembrance of these things. While we don’t preach the exact same message every single Sunday, in another sense, we really do!

For today: Be glad that the Lord loves to remind us. Rejoice if you have a pastor who faithfully reminds you.