And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Acts 18:22-23
What does it mean that Paul “strengthened all the disciples?”
The strengthening is spiritual in nature. When we are born again, we are like spiritual babies—alive but lacking strength and maturity. Peter wrote (1 Peter 2:2) about what spiritual babies want and need: “…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” As babies want and need milk at first, so too do spiritual babies need the milk of God’s Word.
Newly converted people need the Word. And hopefully they have a natural craving for it. It is by the Word of God that we gain strength—growing in our knowledge and in much needed discernment.
The same is true for children and young people—whether born again or not. We make a mistake when we presume that they cannot understand the Bible, instead giving them Christian storybooks that are not the Bible. While being careful about which children’s storybooks to read to them, we must not give them only Christian storybooks instead of God’s Word.
New believers, children, and young people may not understand everything they hear or read in the Bible, but the more they hear and read, the more they will understand.
Let us strengthen ourselves and each other by hearing and reading God’s Word, trusting the Holy Spirit to grant increasing understanding in time.
The New Year is a great time to adopt a Bible Reading plan for ourselves (with our spouses) and for our families.