4 Minute Read + Scripture readings

Today’s Bible Reading:

Judges 13
Acts 17
Jeremiah 26
Mark 12

Today’s Bible Verse(s):

Acts 17:11 (CSB): “The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):

We generally don’t like to be corrected. Why? Because we don’t like to look bad in front of other people.

As a part of this mindset, we sometimes don’t like to be fact-checked, either. We want people to trust us. If they feel the need to check on the truthfulness of what we’re saying, we feel as if they don’t trust us. And that hurts.

Yet, in the verse that I’ve chosen for today, Luke acknowledged that the Christians in the city of Berea were fact-checking the Apostle Paul as he preached. They were searching the Old Testament to make sure that the things he was saying was true.

And it’s not as if the Apostle Paul was a nobody. In our current vernacular, Paul might have been considered a rockstar in the first century churches. He was well known, was accomplishing great things, and was a formidable force against seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

It would’ve seemed rude fact check him. It would’ve seemed incredibly disrespectful.

Yet Luke, Paul’s traveling companion, commended the Christians in Berea for checking the Scriptures to make sure that what Paul was saying was true. He called them noble because of their activity.

It seems to me that since searching the Scriptures to make sure that what we are hearing from Bible teachers is presented as a good thing, we should engage in it as well. Don’t simply take someone’s word for it when they purport to speak authoritatively on matters pertaining to the Bible. Search the Scriptures to see if the things being said are true.

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Lord Jesus, I want to know your word. I want to know it so well that I can determine if what I’m hearing from a Bible teacher is true. Thank You for acknowledging that such a desire does not necessarily denote distrust. It’s actually a noble activity by serious Christians. I want to be like that. Amen.

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