Daily Devotional for Monday 12th February
Finishing touches
Paul’s final pastoral advice in vv9-11 is about priorities and focus. By their very nature quarrels about the law and genealogies are backward-looking and Paul is very much focussed on the forward work of the Gospel. Paul’s reference to Law is the Law given to Moses. At the time the letter was written there was tension between Gentile and Jewish Christians about the application of the Mosaic Law. Notice that he’s not saying that Old Testament law is to be ignored, rather he is saying having endless debates on obscure aspects of the law is both ‘unprofitable and useless’. Worse still it can lead to division in the church, which should be avoided.
Then in the next section, we have a fascinating insight into how the missionary activities of the early church functioned. Paul was clearly free to travel and may have been in Corinth when he wrote this. Zenas and Apollos appear to be the couriers for the letter to Titus on Crete. They need restocking before they travel onwards. These two carry the letter which tells Titus that Paul is sending either Artemas or Tychicus to Crete. This is so that Titus can be released to travel to Nicopolis in western Greece so that he and Paul can meet up. We probably underestimate the level of organisation that went on in the early church without any of the modern sophisticated communication tools we now have. I’m sure Paul would have been at home with the global dimension to the gospel we have in our times.
Finally, the letter ends as it began with a reminder of God’s Grace v15 & 1:4. It reminds us that there is importance to how we live our Christian lives and that we are saved by God’s grace; we are sustained by God’s grace and ultimately it is through God’s grace that we arrive home.
Time to reflect…
Do we spend too much time on aspects of Christian teaching to an extent that Paul might consider it ‘unprofitable and useless’? Notice how many people are being used for mission work in these verses – six including Paul and Titus.
Pause to pray…
Father God, We pray for all those who are involved in the mission of the church, particularly those linked to this church. We ask that you will sustain them and their families through your Grace. And for ourselves, we thank you for your Grace which we experience in our daily lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen
