​

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:1 KJV” This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”

​

Apostle Paul  opens this chapter by admitting that it is true by saying that anyone who desires the office of a Bishop has desired a good thing . A Bishop basically  plays a supervisory role. He is an overseer over  the people of God    as one body or a number of bodies under  one umbrella. The Bishop  can be described as a shepherd or, better still, a pastor. Shepherds are very indispensable. Of all animals, sheep are the only animals that can never survive in the jungle or out of the jungle without a shepherd. In Mark 6:34, the Lord Jesus wept over the multitude of people who had followed  Him to be healed of their diseases and also  to listen to him preach. He said they were like sheep without a shepherd. It is always very terrible for sheep if they do not have a shepherd.

​

This is the reason the apostle says that  it is a true saying when one decides to be a shepherd or an overseer  of the flock of God. The term overseer has assumed the airs of superiority, and so certain individuals attend to that office with pride. They consider the affluence and certain privileges that go with it, and that becomes their persuasion to seek that office. This is a very wrong motive. Apostle Paul describes such people in the following way. Phi 3:18-19 KJV (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

​

Now the call to shepherd is never a pleasure trip. It is fully a sacrificial one. The Lord said a good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. A true pastor would feed his flock adequately. Jer 3:15 KJV And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Apostle Peter instructed the shepherd as follows:1Pe 5:2 KJV” Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;”God’s love for his flock is the reason why it is a very good cause for one to desire the office of the Bishop.

​

THOUGHT: A SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD IS LIKE A BABY WITHOUT A MOTHER

​

FURTHER STUDIES

​

Jer 23:1 KJV” Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.”

​

Joh 10:11 KJV” I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”