Go Beyond

My friend’s Farsi language Bible.

The week before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to lead a single father from Iran to faith in Christ. It was a beautiful experience. It didn’t take me long to conclude that this young man had the heart of a Berean.

The New Testament book of Acts records the story of the Bereans. The Apostle Paul visited the Jewish synagogue in this Macedonian city while on his Second Missionary Journey. The thing that set the Bereans apart from their neighbors in Thessalonica was their willingness to carefully examine the claims of Christ by searching the Scriptures.

Luke, the writer of Acts, wrote, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

My new Iranian friend displayed the same kind of eagerness in our first meeting. He asked intelligent and thought-provoking questions about both the Qur’an and the Bible. And, after giving much consideration to the claims of Christ, my friend chose to place his faith in Christ for salvation.

I made a commitment to meet weekly with my new Iranian friend and brother to help him take his first steps as a Christ-follower. Our first three meetings have been intense. This young man is reading the Bible daily and thinking deeply about what he is reading. He can’t seem to get enough of God’s Word. His appetite for the Scripture is refreshing and reminds me of the days when I first came to faith in Christ and searched God’s Word for the answers to a million and one questions. I had underlined so many passages in my first Bible that a friend who flipped through the pages of my Bible commented, “Wow! What’s important, what’s not underlined?”

As my new friend and I sat and talked yesterday, I thought of Psalm 119:20, “My soul is crushed with longing after Thine ordinances at all times.” I have to say that as much as I love to read and study the Scriptures, I’m convicted by the attitude of the psalmist. Honestly, I have to admit that sometimes my soul is crushed with longing after other things or other less important pursuits.

That’s why I am thankful for my Iranian friend with the Berean heart. God has used him and his thirst for God’s Word to convict me to strengthen my grip on my own quiet times with God and to continue to think deeply about His Word. What about you? Is your soul crushed with longing after God’s Word at all times?