Bible Study: How to live like The Bereans

Acts  17:10 - 12: "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few."

An important part of the missionary journey of Apostle Paul was his encounter with the Bereans. Worthy of mention in the Acts of the Apostles, it's important we look at the essence of their mentioning, the things we could learn and imbibe in our very own journey of faith. It was stated clearly that these people were noble, more noble than the brethren in Thesselonica who were against the gospel Paul preached which lead to his escape to Berea. 
Paul's experience at Berea was quite different because he encountered a different kind of people and it's important to look into why and how they were different.

I'll be talking about the two (2) major attributes these people displayed and how greatly our Christian walk would improve when we imbibe these characters.

1. Cultivate a Receptive Mind

"...they received the word with all readiness of mind..."

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Jesus spoke of different people and their responses to the word of God. The last set of people He mentioned were the only ones who yielded results with word and it was because they had a good soil for the growth of the seed. 

One of the most important element of spiritual growth is a mind that's ready and prepared to receive God's word every time and anytime it is released. It is the reason why Apostle Paul implored the Christians in Rome to be transformed through the renewal of their minds. The mind is an indispensable part of our being and to grow spiritually we need to pay attention to the state of our minds, the thoughts that run through it per time based on the information we receive and digest. Information flies all around every single minute, in their thousands and millions. If we are ever going to be productive with our lives as believers, we need to ensure our minds are in shape to always receive God's word.

The Bereans are the Christians Apostle Paul refers to as spiritually minded. It means your mind is in tune with the Holy Spirit, open, ready to hear God's voice, receive His instructions and act accordingly.

2. Build a Diligent and Scholarly Life

"...and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so..."

Another important attribute of the Bereans is their diligent search of the scriptures for confirmation of the things Apostle Paul preached. They didn't take Paul's word for it, instead they looked into the scriptures themselves to see if the things Apostle Paul preached were the same things the scripture spoke about. This is important because, for a man of Paul's status who was a typical example of  Reverend Kenneth Hagin, A.W Tozer, Daddy Enoch Adeboye and many other men of God, it would be easy to take their word as the exact authority of the Bible. However, the Bereans did not. They still sought the Bible to know it for themselves unlike many Christians today who don't even have time to study the Bible.

It's okay to listen to audio messages and watch videos of sermons but none of them will ever take the place of personal Bible study. You will need to take out time to search the scriptures for yourself. It means you accept the Bible as the final authority.

Bible verses can be misquoted and misinterpreted but how would you know if you've never taken time to study and see things for yourself? The Bereans made it known that a personal and diligent Bible study routine is a necessity for believers who want to have a personal encounter with God.

Like God told Joshua in Joshua 1:8 that he was to study and constantly meditate on the word, the Bereans understood the ministry of the Word of God and that is why they discerned to learn God's word. God's word is the recipe for success in the life of a believer and their lifestyle is a proof to our generation that if you are interested in God, then you must be interested in His word. God on the other hand shows that He is committed to His word because He does everything by the word (Hebrews 11:3 and 6, Genesis 1. Hebrews 1:3, Genesis 3:8, John 1:1, Luke 5:1)
In Genesis 3:8, we see the voice of God walking  
 

Descriptions of the word of God 

1. The Word of God is a person (John 1:1-11)
2. The word of God is the rhema of God (Ezekiel 2:2)
3. The word of God is the utterance of God
4. The word of God is an empowerment
5. The word of God is God’s promises to you
6. The word of God is your portion (Psalm 16:5)
7. The word of God is a light to your path
8. The word of God gives life (Ezekiel 37:4)


Conclusively, our call to  Christianity is a call to a lifestyle of worship that should be characterised with a perpetual readiness to hear God's word, either directly from Him or through any means that pleases Him per time. We should be ready to hear God always and we should also create time to study God's word. Make it a daily routine and know Him for yourself. This way, we would see tremendous progress in our walk with God. 

Be like the Bereans and live like them.

4/Post a Comment/Comments

Please drop a comment and use the Social Media Buttons below to share to friends and family.

  1. Hmmm... His word must come first in everything we do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for yielding yourself as a vessel.
    Thanks for the Word.. I pray that your well of knowledge and understanding will not run dry

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really blessed by this message.... More anointing sir

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is inspiring, and a food for thought.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please drop a comment and use the Social Media Buttons below to share to friends and family.