Worth Repeating - August 31, 2017

Acts 17: 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (NIV)

Trust but verify.*

We might wonder if Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, thought that Paul was never going to read these words. He is bragging on a group of people who are eagerly checking up on the veracity of Paul’s preaching. Didn’t they trust him? Shouldn’t they trust him?

I believe there are two important lessons we can learn from the Bereans. In the church, we have preachers, teachers and leaders that we trust and who would never purposely lead us astray. But they are humans and prone to human error. If the Bereans were to be commended for not relying on every word out of Paul’s mouth, certainly we should verify the words of our beloved leaders as well.

The second lesson is this: No matter how many sermons or lessons you hear from the Bible, there is no substitute for digging into the Word for yourself. When you read the Bible, do you do it out of duty? Do you find it boring and difficult to understand? Or do you approach it with the enthusiasm of a treasure hunter? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you indulge in the Word of God?

I urge you to follow the example of the Berean Christians and receive the message with great eagerness while examining the Scriptures daily to find the truth.

Five minutes with God each day will never accomplish a deep spiritual examination.*