The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ezra 7:10, “For Ezra had set his heart to study () ???????darash(, carefully search) the law of the LORD, and to practice ( ) ??????asah(, live it out), and to teach () ?????lamad(, skillfully instruct) His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

If you’ve ever thought of ministers as having little or no problems, you need to think again! There may be no more rigorous responsibilities than are found in the Gospel Ministry. Far too many issues fall upon ministers; that’s one reason why they need our continual prayers.

One of the best guides for ministers is contained in our verses above: study, practice, teach. The spiritual responsibilities of a pastor center in those three words. He absolutely must study! And study must come from the Word of God. Ezra saw study as priority to both practice and teaching. There’s an old saying that “Those who know, do; all the rest teach.” Cute, but hardly accurate.

Study demands careful research. Did you notice those little marks below the Hebrew letters in the verse above? Those are vowel points. The alteration of those vowel points can change the entire meaning of the word. Once the accuracy of the word has been determined, it must, if at all possible, be checked with the New Testament. All of this takes training and time.

Study leads to practice. At least, it ought to do so. Ministers who don’t live by their own studies, speak against themselves. Many ministers today lack serious study, making it difficult for those, without the depth of formal Scriptural study, to know all that God is fully saying through His Word.

Practice leads to teaching. In one sense, the practice of one’s study is teaching. For when we live out what we have studied, we are modeling the biblical, Christian life. Make no mistake; the lost are watching closely. They want to know if what we preach is what we practice. When they see that it is, they will listen to our teaching. Of course, Satan is watching, also. He would like nothing more than to discredit our teaching by enabling us to fail. See that you don’t.

“Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against

the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).

In the end, Satan will be defeated! He and his minions will be cast eternally into the Lake of Fire. Whether those we now know will then be with Jesus depends largely on whether we are faithfully sharing Him while we have opportunity. So study the Bible daily! Live out the Life of Christ within you! And personally teach those who are lost.

There’s no better way! There’s no other way!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”