Let the Investigation Commence

Psalm 119:30-32 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.

For years I had my two oldest children convinced that I could change the color of traffic lights from red to green. When I would approach an intersection and the light was red but the opposing lights were yellow, I would use my special "hand wave" and the color would change before my kid's eyes. They were mystified.

Over time, they began to put in requests for my "special talent". This was most inconvenient because the opposing lights would not always be yellow. For these cases, I created a dramatic hand warm-up ritual to fill the time until I could do my "trick". It took years before the kids investigated my claims for themselves. They were all too willing to just take me at my word that I had this special ability and it never occurred to them that they might be being misled in some way.

Today's passage is Acts 17:1-15. Paul has departed Philippi and traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. After about a month there, Paul was once again run out of town. His next stop was a town called Berea. The people of Berea are described as having more noble character than the Thessalonians because they examined the scriptures for themselves to see if what Paul was saying was true.

For over a decade, I was a very faithful church member who was involved in the church choir, orchestra and preschool programs. I attended church on Wednesdays and Sundays and even went to both Sunday school and worship on Sunday mornings. What I am not proud to tell you though is that during this span of time I almost never read the Bible for myself. From my limited perspective, I didn't really need to. I was familiar with almost any scripture or passage that was used by my pastor or Sunday school teacher. Therefore I reasoned most incorrectly, that I already knew everything the Bible taught and didn't need to read it myself.

When I finally did begin to read the Bible for myself I was amazed to find out the many of the scriptures I had heard quoted for years were to some degree at least taken out of context. Here's an example of that:

• What I Heard - I have heard Romans 8:28 referenced literally hundreds if not thousands of times over the years. The part of this scripture that people usually say is "all things work together for good". The given implication is that for all people, in every circumstance, everything ends up working out well. I am in no way blaming my former teachers because likely they were giving me great instruction and I just wasn't hearing it. This is just what I heard them implying.
• What I Read - Later when I actually began to read the Bible for myself I was shocked to find out that this verse actually says that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose...that (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brothers." So here's a phrase by phrase interpretation of what this scripture actually says (to me anyway):
• God works for the good of those who love him - John 14:15 says that those who love God, obey him. It could just as easily start God works for the good of those who obey him. That seems like a smaller group than everybody.
• God works for the good of those who have been called according to his purpose - I think of this like it says, those who are on God's page not their own page. Now the circle draws tighter still because many times I'm on my own page, not God's. That seems like it might happen less often than in every single circumstance.
• God works for the good so Jesus will be the firstborn among many brothers - The way I might say this is God works things for good only so that I'll look more like Jesus at the end of whatever I'm going through. If I don't look more like Jesus every day perhaps I'm not in that I love God and I'm on His page group. In other words, the good God's after isn't great circumstances that I enjoy but a transformed life.

This morning I am reminded how important it is for me to be a Berean. Whether I'm in women's Bible study or listening to my pastor, I need to read, study and understand that passage being taught for myself so I can ensure 1) the teaching being given is sound and 2) I'm hearing correctly what the teacher is saying.

There has been nothing that has changed my life more than developing the daily habit of Bible reading and study. As God's word has entered my heart, not just my ears, my life has been transformed. I know with certainty that God still has mounds of work to do in my life so I will continue in this habit until my life here comes to a close.

Jesus, thank you for reminding me of my desperate need to connect with You daily for myself. It's not enough just to live vicariously through my pastor or teacher's relationship with You. I need to open Your Word for myself so that I'll look just a little more like You tomorrow than I do today.