Ezra 7:10

I would like to take the opportunity in my post this weekend to express deep gratitude for and give honor to Tim and the entire pastoral team of TFC, specifically for how they approach the Scriptures in their lives, both personally and ministerially.

The particular guide that I use in my devotions alongside the Bible (and the one I personally recommend) is For the Love of God, by D.A. Carson. This guide follows a reading schedule that takes one systematically through the entire Bible each year (one of the reasons why I recommend it), with a very helpful explanatory/applicatory comment each day on the Biblical text (the other reason why I recommend it). The reading from the Older Testament for January 7 was Ezra chapter 7, and the thoughts expressed for this day focused on one of my favorite verses of Sacred Scripture, Ezra 7:10: "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel."

One of the things that came to mind as I read Dr. Carson's observations was how Tim our senior pastor, along with those who serve with him in pastoral ministry at TFC, exemplify the pattern set down by Ezra as he served the people of God in his day.

Note what Dr. Carson writes:

The nature of Ezra’s task could easily be taken as a model of the privileges and responsibilities of all whose duty it is to teach the Word of God to the people of God: “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (Ezra 7:10).

(1) Ezra devoted himself to the study of the Law. There is no long-range effective teaching of the Bible that is not accompanied by long hours of ongoing study of the Bible. Effectiveness in teaching the Bible is purchased at the price of much study, some of it lonely, all of it tiring. If you are not a student of the Word, you are not called to be a teacher of the Word.

(2) Ezra devoted himself to the observance of the Law. For some people, study is an end in itself, or perhaps a means to the end of teaching. But even though the subject matter is Scripture, for these people there is no personal commitment to living under its precepts--to ordering their marriage, their finances, their talk, their priorities, their values, by the Word of God. They do not constantly ask how the assumptions of their age and culture, assumptions that all of us pick up unawares, are challenged by Scripture. The study of Scripture, for such people, is an excellent intellectual discipline, but not a persistent call to worship; the Bible is to be mastered like a textbook, but it does not call the people of God to tremble; its truths are to be cherished, but it does not mediate the presence of God. Ezra avoided all these traps and devoted himself to observing what Scripture says.

(3) Ezra devoted himself to the teaching of the Law. He was not a hermit-scholar; he was a pastor-scholar. What he learned in study and obedience he also learned how to pass on. Whether in large, solemn assemblies, in family or clan settings, or in one-on-one studies, Ezra committed himself to teaching the Word of God to the people of God. It is difficult to imagine a higher calling." (For the Love of God - Volume Two: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Treasures of God's Word, by D.A. Carson, Crossway Books)

Simply put, our pastors reflect an Ezra 7:10 approach to life and ministry, and I wonder if we as a church fully appreciate and realize how God has blessed us with the pastors He has given to us? One only has to scan the ecclesiastical horizon to see the goodness of God toward us in the leaders He has given to care for and guard us.

Thank you Tim, Tim, Steve, and Scott for serving the church so well in how you carefully study, personally apply and teach God's sacred truth. We are in your debt.