The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. (Titus 1:5)
I am not a handyman, and I always leave real maintenance issues around our home to a professional. However, one of my joys is to watch my wife work with her hands to paint step stools for children. She personalizes them by hand painting their names and a theme their parents or a family member recommends. Each stool starts unfinished, raw, and dusty; sometimes she has to fill in cracks, sand it down, and smooth the rough edges. After those stools are in her hands, what was unfinished soon becomes a new masterpiece full of color.
Jesus finished his work on the cross at Calvary by taking the sting out of death and victory out of the grave. However, we are left with unfinished work we are called to do. Paul wrote to Titus about appointing elders and then he told him what to look for in the people he selected. He recognized Titus couldn’t finish the work alone, but would need faithful followers of Jesus, who were also unfinished, to do the work of the kingdom. He laid out some specific qualifications like faithfulness to one’s spouse, children who are obedient and disciplined, and a lifestyle that is blameless. I wonder how your life and my life would stack up against this criteria? Ask a trusted brother or sister in Christ to offer truth about your life.
Allow Christ to create a masterpiece from your life.
Santes Beatty is director of multiethnic ministries for The Wesleyan Church.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
