Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13)
Today, I want to encourage you to devote yourself to the basics of pastoral ministry. You’ve celebrated Christmas and now you’re heading into a new year. It’s a great time to evaluate how you’re spending your time and energy and make sure you’re giving proper attention to the essential tasks God has assigned to you.
Devote Yourself
First, notice the umbrella imperative in this verse. Devote yourself.
It’s so easy to lose focus on the fundamentals, to slip into autopilot in the most important aspects of ministry. Distractions and extra commitments grow like weeds and must be regularly pulled.
In 2026, I encourage you to rededicate yourself to focus on the following three endeavors.
Public Reading of Scripture
Timothy’s congregation did not have personal copies of the Bible, so it was especially important that they hear it read regularly. Your people do have the Bible in hand, but the principles still holds.
Your church needs you to regularly expose them to Scripture. It aligns their world view with reality. It protects them from spiritual amnesia. It nourishes their relationship with God.
Read the Bible to your people when they gather on Sunday mornings. Project the same translation you read so it’s not needlessly confusing. Take your time and do it well. Read passages just on the edge of challenging their attention spans. Don’t overdo it so that it feels like punishment. But also don’t zip through it as though it’s unimportant.
Read the Bible to your people in other settings to. At the beginnings of fellowship meals. As you convene board meetings. To lead the way into prayer meetings. In hospitals and coffee shops. Everywhere you can, expose them to the Word.
As you do, it’ll make the next two endeavors possible.
Exhortation
This is personally urging your people to respond to God’s word. And the personal part of it is important.
It’s the Greek prefix for close beside attached to the word for call or urge. If all your church needed was the call or urge and not the close beside, you could save yourself a lot of effort and just play a John Piper sermon this Sunday. But they need you exhorting them specifically. You are your people’s pastor. You are the one who knows them, loves them, and has a real-life relationship with them.
Toward this end, you might consider using your directory or church membership list to keep your specific individuals in mind as you prepare your sermon. As you study, ask yourself, How does this apply to James right now? If Mary were to respond perfectly to the passage, what would that look like? How can I make this actionable for John this week? Let these personal applications and examples fill your sermon with exhortation for your specific flock.
As you do, consider how you might help your people in their response. If Patricia were to act on what you preach this Sunday, what help might she need from you? Is there anything you could provide or do for Micheal to help him obey what he’s going to hear from God’s word? This is what devotion to exhortation looks like in practice.
Teaching
Your people need both exhortation and teaching. They need to be motivated to act and instructed to understand.
I’ll bet you tend to major in one and minor in the other. Like some people are right-handed and others are left-handed, many pastors are either more into exhortation or teaching.
That’s why some churches are so active they look like a secular social service agency and other churches are so academic they look like a seminary. Tip toward action only and your church will soon let go of truth altogether. Tip the other way toward knowledge only and your church will soon be a Pharisee factory.
Stretch yourself and grow in your less dominant side so that your church can grow balanced and healthy.
Questions to Consider
As we conclude our time together here and as you enter a new year, I’ll leave you with four questions to consider.
Are you reading the Bible to your people?
Are you exhorting your people?
Are you teaching your people?
Are you devoting yourself to these things?
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