Devotion: Earthquake in the Old Mansion

My dad was standing, looking out the windows to the right in this picture, toward the bay.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Jude 1:3 ¶ Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Below the cliff that the old house sat on were the railroad tracks. All day and through the night at various times the trains would rumble by or switch cars below. All this activity would shake the old house. We became so accustomed to the noise and the shaking that it never fazed us. The noise and shaking just went together. However, if we had company that didn't know about the trains and the noise and shaking that went on they would nearly come out of their seats in panic thinking we were having an earthquake or something had exploded.

We got to know the "good" noise and shaking so well that when there was noise without shaking or shaking without noise we paid attention. So it was in the middle of the night when I was awakened out of a sound sleep by the shaking of the house without any noise to go with it. It was a different kind of shaking, more like a rocking motion. I knew instantly that something was wrong. I flew out of bed to my parent's room to find my dad standing, looking out the window. I imagine he was trying to figure out what we should do. All I knew was I was scared out of my wits and wanted to be near my mom and dad. None of us slept well the rest of the night. Three of us in a standard double bed with me clinging to the outside edge of it all night, didn't make for a restful time.

We got to know the noise and shaking that were normal so well that when the earthquake shook us we instantly knew something was wrong. The parallel to be seen is this: As Christians, we are to study the Bible and get to know it so well that when doctrine, worldviews, humanistic teaching, etc. comes along that contradicts it we are instantly aware. Are you like the Bereans talked about in the verse out of Acts above? Are you searching the Scriptures daily? We can not contend for the faith if we do not know what the faith is. My challenge to you is to dig into the Bible and get to know it so well that you can identify the counterfeit easily when it comes along.