October 30, 2024
Passage Read: 1 Timothy 5-6
Meditation Verse: 6:1
Thought
All believing slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and Paul's teaching may not be spoken against. Whether their master is a believer or not, whether they are kind and gentle or not, the believing slave is to consider his master to be worthy of all honor. This is true of anyone under authority: we are to consider our parents, our husband, our boss, our governing authorities, our church leaders, all authorities and any authority as worthy of honor, not based on their intrinsic worthiness, but so that the name of the Lord and the teaching of the Scripture may be honored. It would especially be honored by those good rulers and masters who saw the difference in their servants, but would it be honored by fellow servants? Not by the rebellious or embittered, of course, but perhaps by those sensitive to the things of God. Perhaps this kind of obedience reveals which people are closest to receiving Christ and which people are still far from Him.
Application
As a Christian, my responsibility is not to discern who is worthy of honor and who is not, but to regard all authorities as worthy of honor, for the sake of Jesus Christ and His glory. It seems in this day and age when the rebel is the hero, anyone who is respectful and obedient to authorities is considered a fool; that obedience would more likely result in maligning the Word of God. So living so that unbelievers would not malign the Word of God is not the best motivation for obedience. Instead, living as a testimony of obedience, a testimony against the rebellious is a more likely result. There will always be people who speak against the Word of God, and I mustn't live to win their approval, but to win God's approval and to rebuke the rebellious. Sadly, there are even many believers who exalt rebellion and condemn the honoring of authorities. They need to be soundly rebuked and brought into submission to God's Word, or else they must be silenced and probably driven out of fellowship until they repent. I need to obey this instruction and consider all my authorities as worthy of honor, regardless of how they behave, because I love the Lord Jesus and want Him to be honored. And in the end, I will be proven right in my obedience, when Jesus returns to reign.