“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11, ESV)
The question is often asked, “How can we be more like the church in the first century?” One way we can do that is to consider the Bereans in Acts 17:11. They were commended for being “more noble than those in Thessalonica” early in the context because they 1) eagerly received the word and 2) they examined the scriptures daily. Louw-Nida defines “examine” (anakrino) as “to try to learn the nature or truth of something by the process of careful study, evaluation, and judgment.”[1]
How does this apply to us? In two ways. First, we need to learn to love reading and hearing God’s word (Yes I said “learn to.” I’ll have more thoughts on that at another time) and secondly, simply “speed reading” through our Daily Bible Reading quota isn’t enough. Let’s slow down and savor every inspired statement we find in the Word of God, and consider its implications in our lives.
I’m confident if we do this we will be one step closer to being the church that Christ desires us to be.
Let your light shine!
[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 330.