Be A Berean

# 64 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 1Ti 2:9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, (1 Tim 2:9) The Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul continues his instructions to Timothy (and us) as to “how to do church.” In this section he begins to differentiate the roles of men and women in the worship setting, and this is where it gets a little dicey. There are strong feelings on this issue in the church today and my experience in dealing with such feelings in sorting out these kinds of doctrinal issues is to first of all, be teachable. Being teachable begins with prayerful, humble listening to the Holy Spirit speaking through the Word of God. Sometimes this requires letting go of things that have become entrenched in your mind through years of “we've always done it this way” theology. Think of the Bereans mentioned in the Book of Acts. When Paul and Silas arrived in their town and preached the gospel this was definitely not the way they had “done it before!.” Ac 17:11 says this about the Bereans: “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. The Thessalonians had driven Paul and Silas out of their city (they obviously had strong feelings on the subject of the Gospel) but the Bereans were more willing to listen to Paul and Silas' side of the story, but even though they received it well, they still turned to the Scriptures to see if these teachings squared up with the Word of God! So don't drive away teachings simply because “you've never done it that way before.” If you have questions go to the Word of God! Isa 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” And in 2Pe 1:20 we read, “ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The nobility (fair-mindedness) of the Bereans lies in the fact that they were willing to listen to another side of the story but they also never stopped looking at it through the lens of the perfect Word of God!