Consider carefully what you hear.
—Mark 4:24
In just ten verses, Paul’s Areopagus sermon (Acts 17:22–31) touched all the bases from creation to culmination.
There were three reactions to his speech: ridicule, delay, and belief.
Some ridiculed. Paul’s sign-off about judgment and Jesus [resurrection] sparked sneers; “some of them laughed outright” (Phillips).
Some delayed. “We want to hear you again.” That probably didn’t happen: “Paul left the Council” (17:33), and then “left Athens” (18:1). It’s a dangerous day when a person sees truth and delays acceptance.
Some believed. “Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.” Dionysius, Damaris, and the anonymous “others” chose belief and obedience.
When you read the Bible or hear a message from it, you respond—probably in one of these three ways.
How’s your hearing?
When people want to believe something
facts and logic aren’t overwhelming obstacles.