Some people learn best by the things they see and read. The Book of Acts tells us about those who came to faith through studying and reading God’s Word.
“Now the Berean Jews…received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” Acts 17:11-12 [NIV]
These people had been given Paul’s message that their saviour had come, but they did not believe it blindly. They wanted to ensure that all his promises of fulfilment were actually fulfilments. This does not mean that they did not have faith, but their faith was supported and strengthened by their time spent looking and studying God’s Word.
- When was the last time you read directly from the Bible and spent time trying to understand what it meant for you?
- When was the last time you read a Christian book that taught you something important for your faith?
It is easy to believe and trust prominent Christian writers and speakers, after all they have often spent a lot of time themselves studying and learning the nuances of the Bible and what it says. They are a brilliant asset to help us draw out meaning that we wouldn’t recognise without knowing the original language or culture. To read such books is fantastic to learn about our faith and how to live it. But, that does not give us an excuse to leave our Bibles closed. God wants us as individual believers to wrap ourselves in his Word.
- At some point today take five minutes to read directly from the Bible. If you don’t know what to read, try Acts 17:10-15 and see what message you get from that passage.
Anna Naish
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