Buying a home is such a serious commitment, you really have to thoroughly examine a house before signing that purchase agreement.
When my wife and I were first-time homebuyers, someone advised us to let the water run from different faucets in the house to check the water pressure. We did that in one very cute place, and while we talked with the realtor, sure enough, the water from the kitchen faucet slowed to a trickle and completely stopped. We’ll never know if there was a problem with the well or the water pump—we made our decision then and there to walk away (that there were railroad tracks running right through the backyard may also have influenced us a bit).
Big decisions require careful examination. Such was the case with the people of Berea when the apostle Paul presented them with the gospel (Acts 17:10-12). The Bible says, “they received the word with all eagerness.” The “word” here is the message “from the Scriptures” about how “it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead,” and that, “Jesus . . . is the Christ” (17:2-3).
But the people of Berea did not simply believe everything they heard; rather, they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (17:11). We should all be like those open-hearted Bereans: carefully searching and examining God’s Word to find the truth about Jesus, salvation, and what it means to follow Him.
After their thorough Bible study into the gospel message, “many of them therefore believed” (17:12). They listened and read and thought and were convinced of the truth: Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises. After searching the Scriptures, they made the serious commitment of putting their trust completely in Jesus. Have you examined God’s Word today?
