BE A BEREAN
By Cougan Collins
lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net
On his second missionary journey, Paul went to a city called Thessalonica (Acts 17:1). Many times Paul found himself in danger because the Jews disliked the message he was preaching, and this city was no different (Acts 17:5). The Jews formed a mob and raided the house they thought Paul was in, but he was not there. So, they drug the owner of the house, Jason and other brethren “to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6). They felt like the message of Christ was turning the world upside down, and they wanted to stop it, but their efforts failed.
“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas
away by night to
Paul never knew how
successful he would be in any city. Sometimes he reached a few and faced great
opposition; other times, he had great success. The Bereans
were like a fresh breath of air because they listened without letting their
preconceived ideas get in the way. Also, they carefully
searched the Scriptures to see if what he was saying was true. Once they did,
many of them believed because they were humble enough to change their view
because Paul’s teaching was Scriptural.
Oh how I wish more people
were like the Bereans. Many today will not search the
Scriptures at all (much less daily) to find out if the truth is
being taught. Instead, they blindly follow what their preacher or others
teach them. Even when they see that the Bible teaches something different from
what they were taught, they choose to cling to what
they have been taught. Many of the Jews in the first century had this same
problem. They could not see past the Law of Moses or their traditions. No mater
how strong the proof was that Jesus was the Son of God, they would deny it
because they were unwilling to allow the Word of God to be their guide.
How
about you? Would you be humble
enough to change your ways if you saw that the Bible teaches something different
from what your preacher or others taught you? Or would
you be like those first century Jews and stubbornly ignore the truth?
I encourage you to test all things (1 Thess. 5:21), and stop assuming your preacher and others are right. Be a Berean, and search the Scriptures daily to see if you are being taught the truth. If you are, great! If you are not, then be willing to change by conforming yourself to God’s Word. If you have questions about any topic in the Bible contact me, and I will do my best to answer your questions, but I insist that you compare my answer to the Scriptures.