Monday, February 28, 2022

February 28, 2022

Acts 17: 11 (NIV)
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
[It is] tragic [that we] have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.*
What made the Bereans so special? First, they received the message with great eagerness; and second, they didn’t trust the messenger – even though that messenger was Paul. If you can’t trust Paul to preach the truth, who can you trust? The answer is: you don’t know who to trust, so you must do as the Bereans did: examine the Scriptures daily.

Perhaps you are on the same train of thought as I am right now . . . If we can’t trust what others tell us about the gospel, why do we need preachers?

I live in Florida where lots of people make their living as fishing guides. Now you might wonder why anyone would need to hire a fishing guide – you have a boat, you have all the necessary gear and bait, you know where the lake is. But the guide knows where the fish are and he can help you find them, too. Now if you let him do the actual fishing for you, you aren’t really fishing, are you? But when he helps you catch fish and teaches you some techniques, maybe someday you, too, can be a fishing guide.

Listen to your preacher/teacher/group leader with eagerness. He has studied and prepared and he knows where the fish are, but if you are going to actually fish, you have to do it for yourself!
None of us can hire a preacher and expect him to study for us.*

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