Last week we finished off Mark in our daily readings. The reason why I like studying Mark so much is that it is, in my opinion, the easiest Gospel to understand.  I always think that the Gospels are a great place to start when you begin to study scripture. We do not believe that the Gospels are more inspired than the rest of scripture, but we do believe that they give us a special insight into the heart of God, by seeing the very words and actions of Jesus.  

As I thought about what I wanted to read next, I thought about doing something a little similar to that.  Paul is one of the most important persons in all the Bible, obviously.  He paved the way for us Gentiles (non-Jews) to become Christian. He wrote so very much of the New Testament.  He wrote the first books of theology, or the study of God, for us, books like Romans. But these aren’t just textbooks to read in the library, but these books are living, breathing scripture.  

I wanted to take a little bit different look at Paul for our next readings.  We are going to read through what is often called Paul’s pastoral letters. These are letters written to people that are like spiritual sons to Paul. We see tenderness, we see teaching, we see encouragement here within the passages.  Paul is a spiritual father to so many but as we read Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, we will see the depth of Paul’s love for these men.  And we will see the importance of having a mentor and being a mentor. These are things that we all need and need to do as Christians. 

So, today, before we begin our readings, I have two questions for you to consider.  

Who in your life pours into you?  Who is it in your life who teaches you, cares for you, and gives you spiritual wisdom? We all need someone like that in our lives, we will find ourselves off-kilter if we do not have that person. 

Second, who do you pour into?  As Christians, it is not healthy to only receive.  We must give back. We must pass along what we have been given.  Our faith is most healthy when we are given to, yes, but we must give back as well. 

Who pours into you?  Who do you pour into? These are questions for us to consider as we read Paul. 

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