Luke was living the Word of God while he was writing it. This is a practice that we can follow with one difference. Which we should be living the word while we are reading it. The reason Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts should inspire us. So we stay motivated to read and investigate the God’s Word.
Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus. Luke 1:3
Many men and women followed Jesus when he walked on the earth. Maybe when we get to heaven, we will know who they are. But, right now we don’t know the majority of their names.
From that group, Jesus chose 12 to be His apostles.
“At daybreak, he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.” Luke 6:13
Luke was not one of the apostles mainly because he probably wasn’t in the group of disciples that were following Jesus. He did, however, want to accurately report the facts about the life of our Lord to his friend Theophilus.
Luke was a physician by profession but gave the latter part of his life to learning about the life of Christ. He didn’t stop there though. When he heard about the beginning of the church, his investigation continued, because it was an extension of Jesus’ ministry.
Motivated by More of God’s Word
Radio announcer Paul Harvey would have said something like, “Page two,” or “Now for the rest of the story.” The book of Acts tells the story of the beginning of the church. It started from Jesus’ final words to His apostles, to the spread of the gospel. Then to the startup of many churches, ending with the conclusion of Paul’s ministry.
Luke, however, wasn’t just an investigative reporter, he became a participating reporter. In the middle of Acts 16, he changed from writing in the third person (he or they) to the first person (we).
What is interesting about this is that he was living the word while he was writing it. This is a practice that we should follow with one difference—we should be living the word while we are reading it.
Luke didn’t write about Jesus just out of the blue when he started writing what we call the Gospel of Luke. The man he was writing the account for was the honorable Theophilus, who was evidently a new convert to Christianity. Verse 4 says, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
Read and Investigate for a Friend
There are many Christians today who have a hard time opening the Bible. For some, the only Bible they get is when they are in church on a Sunday morning. Maybe you are one of those people. Your intentions are good and you want to get into the Word but it just doesn’t happen.
It is important that we keep a close relationship with the Lord. If we don’t, we could get ourselves into spiritual trouble. It might be helpful for you to read this journal entry, Who Will Harvest You In The End, Jesus Or Satan?
I have written a series of devotional books called “3 Minutes Alone with God” that will help you to spend time in God’s Word. Let me encourage you to use a tool like those to get you started in a daily routine of devotions.
What Luke did for Theophilus should also inspire us as well. We can read and investigate the Word of God so we too can help a young Christian to be certain of the truth they are being taught. If you are not motivated enough to read and study the Word for yourself, then why don’t you do it for a friend. That is what discipleship is all about!
Lord, give us more of a desire to stay motivated to read and investigate God’s Word. Holy Spirit sink your Word deep into our hearts so we can be more like Jesus.
You would enjoy reading the cornerstone post on discipleship called How To Be An Effective Devoted Disciple Of Jesus.
Reading the account of Luke in the gospels is interesting. You can start here in chapter 1.
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