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Yada, yada, yada … to be or not to be Bereans?

1/29/23

In Acts 17:10-12 reads “10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

The writer indicated that this group of people called the Bereans were noble due to.

· Didn’t just take Paul at his word.

· Didn’t determine the truth of the message by the charisma of the speaker

· Mutual satisfying and uplifting

· They did not have the bible as we do but searched the Old Testament

However, the opposite of what the Bereans did lead to a life of ignorance. Would you say that ignorance is embraced in our society and church today? Arguably yes. Consider these popular sayings…

· Ignorance is bliss.

· What you don’t know, won't hurt you

Ignorance is often used for why people break the law…i.e. I didn’t know the speed limit.

This mindset can be applied to Christian lifestyle; intentionally or unintentionally.

As a consequence, in our conversations we may use terms like.

· Etc.…etc. etc.

· Blah, blah, blah

· My favorite yada, yada, yada

Have you ever been in a conversation where they fill in the unknown with the term.

· He was in an accident and yada, yada, yada he was discharged from the hospital today.

· The professors lesson was about rocks and blah, blah blah we have a test today.

The terms are used to cut specific details out, usually boring or inconsequential information.

It’s a way to get to the point.

I bet you didn’t know that biblical practice is demonstrated when we say words or terms three times.

· Holy, Holy, Holy

· FATHER, Son and Holy Spirit mentioning GOD three times.

· Focusing on the word “yada” it is a biblical word that means “to know” or being intimate like Adam with Eve etc.…

The terms blah, blah, blah; etc., etc., etc. and yada yada yada are lodged in our conscious as acceptable.

The practice is used without much thought and used subliminally…

For example, we use it in the form of a dash on a grave marker.

The dash represents the details of what the person has accomplished in their lifetime. The person was born on this date and yada yada yada died on this date.

The church is affected as well.

· The birth of Christ was celebrated during Christmas.

· The death of Christ celebrates his death and resurrection during Easter

· The book celebrates the birth and death but what's missing are the key details of his life like miracles, teaching and interactions with God and people.

Not so with the Bereans, what did they do?

· They received the message with great eagerness.

· They didn’t argue or be contrary.

· They examined the scriptures every day.

· They studied to prove its authenticity.

· They validated Paul's teaching.

· The results of their action led to changed lives with many believing.

We need to be like the Bereans. Their actions led to

· Spiritual growth

· Trusting in God

· Accepting the blessings that God gives

· Spiritual nourishment that leads to steadfastness and ever-growing faith

· Internal peace and comfort

Instead of ascribing to the earlier quotes, listen to these;

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

― G.K. Chesterton

My favorite is: “He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.”

― George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara

What principles can we learn from the Bereans?

1. Christins need to be separate form the world not influenced by pagan or worldly practices

2. Learning God's way requires humility and submitting to the will of God.

3. Study the Bible daily.

4. Test all things as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 "test all things, hold fast what is good"

5. Let our light shine and expect its power to change lives

We need to avoid being ignorant. Take off the "yada, yada, yada" principle that guides away from enrichment and spiritual knowledge but instead grow in grace an in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18



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