What's a Berean?
A Berean (Beh- REE - un) is someone from a
city in Greece called... well...any ideas?
If you guessed "Berea" you're
right!! Anyone from Berea was called a Berean. Berea is in Greece, near the Mediterranean
Sea. Here's a map.
You can still go to Berea today and meet real, live
Bereans! (The city is now called Veria and the people are Verians).
So what do you have in common with someone
from Greece?
Well, if you're interested in learning what
the Bible has to say, then you're like the Bereans of 2,000 years ago.
The apostle Paul went to Berea and told the people all
about Jesus and what He taught and what happened to Him in
Jerusalem.
The Bereans were eager to find out for
themselves if these things were true. Do you know where they
looked? They looked in the Old Testament Scriptures that told of the
coming of Jesus.
Here's what the Bible says about the Bereans:
"As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
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.
Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men."
(Acts 17:10-12)
So if you're eager to look through the Bible to find out if what I'm
saying is true, then
you're like the Bereans!
Thankfully you don't have to take my word for it.
You can take God's Word for it.
Be a good Berean about the things I tell you or the things
other people tell you. Check it out in the Bible to see if what
they're saying is true.
P.S. If you don't have a Bible, I hope you'll
get one soon. Get one that is easy for you to read and
understand. I've quoted from two versions on this website, the New
Living Translation, and the New International Version. I've put the
initials NLT, and NIV, next to each scripture so you can tell which
version it comes from.
You can also read the Bible on the Internet at places like bible.gospelcom.net,
but I know you'd have more fun reading your own copy if you can get one.
You might want to ask someone for a Bible for a Christmas or birthday
present some day!
