Matins Devotion: February 3, 2025

Titus 2:7-3:15

In one sense, being a pastor is very easy. In other sense, it’s quite hard. It’s easy to know what you’re supposed to do. As Paul shows in our reading from Titus this morning, your job is to call people to repentance, to preach the salvation of Christ, and to show people how to live as His new creation. Pretty easy. But actually doing it is hard. Having the courage to rebuke people for their sins is hard, especially if you know they’ll get angry. Articulating the word of salvation properly is hard. Not getting tangled up in the daily nonsense of church life that distracts you from showing people the good works they should do, that’s also hard.

And, of course, the same is true for all Christians. Knowing what you should do as a Christian is easy. Doing it is hard. It’s hard to keep your eyes focused on Christ when the world is constantly trying to put them back on yourself. It’s hard to trust in your baptism when Satan is constantly urging you to find your identity in your sinful desires instead of the new birth you received in those saving waters. It’s hard to live a life devoted to good works that don’t save you when your sinful flesh wants you to believe they do.

So, how do we make things easier in this sense? There’s not really a mysterious or hidden answer. It’s the same as it always has been. Be disciplined. Be rigorous. Pray without ceasing. Read your Bible all the time. Sing hymns. Don’t let things onto your calendar that keep you from church. Gather with your fellow saints, receive the body and blood of Christ with them. Remember your baptism with them. Receive the word of salvation with them. The more Jesus you get, the more you will trust in the salvation He made your own through the waters of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. And the more you trust in Christ, the easier it will be to live for Him.