Act 17:10-12 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 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. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. ESV
Not everybody appreciates hearing about who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He expects us to believe and do. Both in Paul's day and ours there are those who want to put a stop to anyone telling others that Jesus is the one and only Savior and Lord. But there are others who have a quite different attitude regarding the teaching of the gospel.
A mob in Thessalonica had sought to find Paul and Silas so they could do harm to them for teaching about Jesus, which is why the Christian brothers sent them out of town by night. But once the two of them arrived in Berea they continued to tell others about Jesus in that local synagogue.
How the Jews in Berea responded to Paul's teaching was commendable. They eagerly received the word, and they also examined the Scriptures to see if these things were so. They didn't accept it just because it sounded good. They took the time to seriously examine Scripture to see if what was being taught lined up with the written divinely inspired Word of God.
We should emulate their response. We should be eager to hear sound teaching about Jesus and what He wants us to know and do. But we also need to examine the Scriptures to make sure that what we're hearing does indeed line up with the whole of God's Word.
Any preacher or teacher can say things that sound good, and even use verses of Scripture to justify what they are proclaiming. But people can intentionally and unintentionally teach things that twist the meaning and context of the verses being quoted. To really know what is true we need to carefully examine Scripture to make sure that any teaching is actually what God is saying to us in the Bible.
Let us take whatever time is necessary to seriously examine Scripture to know what to believe and do. And, like the Bereans, let us let us do so daily.
