And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. –Acts 17:11
I love to learn. It energizes me. I believe learning is imperative for one’s faith. If we are not learning, our faith becomes stagnant. I also love listening. However, while I might learn a few facts by listening, it is only one part of learning. One speaker I heard recently said “the act of studying is completed when you do it.” I thought about this today as I read the following from Henry Blackaby’s devotional “Experiencing God Day by Day.” He writes,
“Sadly, many Christians today do not exercise their minds to be of service to God. They allow others to do their spiritual thinking for them. If they can find their theology from a book, they will not bother to study God’s Word themselves. If a speaker makes an authoritative statement, they readily accept it without verifying whether it is biblical.”
I’ve been guilty of this. I still am on occasion. It is easier to listen and accept than to listen, question and see what God’s Word says. Discipleship is not easy though and if we are to make disciples, we must first BE disciples. We must be learning and growing in our faith and we must take an active part in growing our faith. Another great quote from this past week… “We cannot outsource our faith.”
1/3 of the world doesn’t have the Bible, 1/3 of Christians don’t read theirs… http://ow.ly/2DswU