I am walking my way through 1 Timothy in my prayer time and came to Chapter 4 verse 1 the other day. As I’ve been on the road a little bit (traveling to see family and celebrate my grandmother’s 95th birthday), I’ve tossed this verse over in my mind.

This morning I am guest preaching in a church. One of the things from Eugene Peterson I’ve learned is the Church is local. It has place. It has culture. I will miss MY church this morning. I know that place and love it. This church is a different place. And the Spirit has a word for THEM today as well. As I have prepared the message for today, as with every Sunday, I must contemplate what does the Spirit want to explicitly say in this place? What is this Word for this time?

I am grateful for Paul’s words to Timothy to remind me that I can’t get lazy in preparing to deliver the Word. There is something the Spirit wants to say!