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.
So on to Thessalonica – another town, and more trouble from the Jews! But the newly-formed Christian group looked after Paul and Silas, sheltering them from the mob and then sending them on, by night, to Berea. Here, Paul enjoyed a welcome interlude of daily study with the local Jewish community – until agitators arrived from Thessalonica! Then Paul moved on again to Athens.
The people Paul encountered in Berea are described as of noble character. It seems that they were thoughtful and not easily taken in by what they heard. You can imagine them listening to Paul and saying ‘Hold on a minute – where does that come in the Scriptures?’ They wanted to check out for themselves what Paul said, and were eager readers and students of the scriptures.
How many of us, with bible translations galore, and a multitude of good literature to help us understand what we read, ever check out for ourselves what we hear preached or spoken about? But more than just doing this occasionally, these Bereans were reading and thinking on a daily basis. It is this regularity and commitment that is so noteworthy, and which puts so many of us to shame. The fact that you are reading these notes today is an encouraging sign, but I suspect that the modern Christian gives very little time to Bible Study and reading. The sale of Bible Reading notes has declined dramatically, and we don’t even always have a bible reading in our church services.
That said, reading and knowing the Bible is not the be-all and end-all of the Christian life. What ultimately matters is the way our lives are ordered, with Jesus the focus of our thinking. What our bible reading does is to help us get that right focus, get to get know God better, and enable us to discover the way God wants us to live.
For reflection: Will your reading of the Bible affect the way you live today?
