You’re reading ACTS: LESSONS IN FAITH, by Eric Elder, featuring thirty inspiring devotionals based on the lives of the very first followers of Christ. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading: Acts 17

I’ve spent the last few weeks in and out of doctors’ offices and the hospital with my Dad, trying to discover the source of some recent health problems.

Like many people, my Dad doesn’t really like doctors, hospitals or anything to do with examinations.   He’d rather live with some minor discomfort than subject himself to the tests that are needed to find out what’s really wrong.  Unless he’s in dire pain or distress, why rock the boat?

But as I went with him and helped him to see why the doctors wanted to do the tests they did, he consented.  In the end, it turned out that my Dad just needs a shot once a month.  It’s a simple solution, but if left uncorrected, could have led to his death.

For some people, reading the Bible sounds about as fun as going to see the doctor.  If you’re not in dire pain or distress, why rock the boat?

Why?  Because the Bible is filled with simple solutions to some of our biggest problems that, if left uncorrected, could lead to our death, both here on earth and eternally.

For people who are eager to live life to the fullest, doing a careful examination of their life from time to time is one of the smartest things they can do.  They’re like the Bereans mentioned in the Bible, the people who lived in a city in Greece called Berea who did another kind of examination, but one that was just as life-changing.

When Paul went to the Bereans to tell them that Jesus was Christ, he found that they were more noble than the people of other cities he had visited:

“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” (Acts 17:11). 

The Bereans were eager to hear about Jesus, to find out if He really was the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ.  They wanted to find out the truth, because they knew how important that truth would be to them.  So they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul was telling them was true.

The reason I like the Bereans so much is because I was one myself.  Although I had gone to church all my life, I never really read the Bible on my own until my mid-20’s.  I began attending a church where they had a class called the Berean Class.  When I asked why they called it that, they told me the story of the Bereans in the Bible who eagerly examined the Scriptures every day to see if what they were being taught was true.

So I went out and bought a Bible filled with helpful study notes.  I began to read it, and really enjoyed it!  The more I read, the more eager I was to keep reading!  I began to discover that all that I had been taught about the Bible was true.  One day, I finally put my faith in Christ.  It turned out to the be single most important turning point of my life, literally saving my life here on earth and for eternity.

Paul went to many cities and reasoned with many people from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.  “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said (Acts 17:3b).  As a result, many believed, both Jews and Greek, men and women.

Faith examines.  If you’re curious about the Bible, about Jesus, or about any of the hundreds of other topics addressed in the Bible, from relationships to healing, from sexuality to eternal life, I’d encourage you to read the Bible for yourself.  Examine it.  Study it.  Eagerly receive the message contained within it―and believe it.

You may find you just need a shot of B12, or you may need some serious, but life-saving surgery.  Either way, when you examine the Bible like the Bereans did, you’ll find that it contains the words you need to live the fullest life possible here on earth―and in heaven, too.

Prayer: Father, help me to eagerly examine Your Word daily to find out for myself that the words are true. In Jesus’ name, Amen.