SCRIPTURE: Acts 17:10-15
“They examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
The noble Berean Jews were open and eager, not hostile, to the message of Jesus.
But they didn’t swallow it whole, but dug deep into the scriptures to confirm it.
They did not believe it right away, but they were open to it, and evaluated it fairly.
This is what makes the Bereans “more noble”, they were not close-minded to Paul’s new ideas.
As followers of Jesus, we ought to be just as noble as the Bereans.
We should not be close-minded, but neither should we simple accept everything new as true.
We take every thought captive to Christ, we evaluate every teaching in light of His truth.
There are many many competing truth claims, and we need to be discerning.
In submission to Jesus as Lord, we process what we hear and compare it to what Jesus said and did.
It still will not be easy, there will still be many differences of opinion.
Sadly many christians have responded to new ideas like the Thessalonians.
Close-minded, angry, harsh, with slander and malicious words and actions.
I’m not saying we cannot disagree, even verbalize what we believe to be true.
But we will speak the truth in love, we will be gracious to those we disagree with.
And we will be open to what we can learn, to what Jesus can teach us even in our differences.
This is what it means to be “of more noble character.”
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, there are many different ideas claiming to be from You. The debates of our day can get nasty. Help me to remain noble, even as I listen for Your truth amongst all the truth claims around me.