Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. -- Acts 20:28 (KJV)
On the shore at Miletus, Paul places the care of the Ephesian church into the elders' hands. His first command is easy to hurry past: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves.” The watch begins with the shepherd.
Begin Here
An overseer can spot danger in the distance and still miss pride, appetite, or resentment growing close to his own heart. Paul gives the elders no exemption because of their office. The Holy Ghost appointed them, and that appointment made sober attention more necessary.
Feed What God Purchased
The flock belongs to God. He purchased the church “with his own blood.” That truth changes the manner of its care. People are not material for someone else's following. They need the whole counsel of God, given with patience, tears, and a life that can bear inspection.
Feeding also gives the church strength to recognize what would harm it. Paul says grievous wolves will enter, and “of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” The danger can come from familiar voices. Its mark is the direction of the pull: disciples are drawn after a person instead of kept near Christ and His word.
Stay Awake
Paul says, “Therefore watch.” This watchfulness has no appetite for suspicion. It listens carefully, keeps doctrine clear, and refuses to treat the people Jesus bought as possessions. Christ has made Jew and Gentile one in Himself; care for His church must honor the people He reconciled.
Who has God placed within reach of your care? Feed that person something true from Scripture. Then ask the harder question: what in your own heart needs watching before it injures someone else?
Lord, keep our eyes open and our hands gentle with Your flock.
