There is so much we can learn from the early church of the Bible. Though many were new converts to the Christian faith, for many things, they instinctively knew what to do. For many things, the Holy Spirit helped them discern what is right. One example of this is when Paul preached to the Bereans. Even though they accepted Paul, and the message he brought with him, they were diligent in examining the word for themselves to see if what Paul was saying was, indeed, accurate. It says in Acts, chapter 17, verse 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.”
If you are an American believer, there is a good chance that you own a copy of the Bible. Many of us own several copies of the Bible. We may even own several versions of the Bible along with a variety of commentaries to help us to better understand them. Today, we can even read the Bible on our phones, or have it read to us through an app. However, even with such access to the Holy Scriptures, how many of us are reading the Bible for ourselves? How many of us are checking the scriptures to make sure that what we hear in church, or what we’ve been taught by our parents, lines up with scripture? The Bereans had the right idea. Acts says that they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. They didn’t just take his word for it. We shouldn’t blindly accept the words of our pastors either, because we have the Bible and we have the Holy Spirit to discern if what we are being taught is true. So I would encourage you to familiarized yourself with the entire Bible. Because hearing a good word from your pastor is only as good as how true and accurate those words are.
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I’m not sure if Americans revere the Bible as much as we should. If we are able to truly understand that it is the inspired word of God, we may begin reverence it as much as the underground Chinese churches do. I used to be an area representative for “Voice of the Martyrs” and I remember seeing a video smuggled out of one of the underground Chinese churches showing several Chinese believers receiving their very own copy of the Bible. When each person received their copy, they held it close to their chest and began weeping silently because they will now be able to read the word of God for themselves. I challenge you to test what is being taught; to revere the word of God, and to read the scriptures for yourself. Being fed the scriptures by our pastors is of some value, but I would argue that it is even more important for us to feed ourselves.