Passion For God’s Word - Apollos

A Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism.

Acts 18:24-25

In his book The Wonders of the Word of God, evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells the story of a new Christian who lost his eyesight and both hands in an explosion.

One of the man’s greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a woman in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping he could do the same, the man sent for some books of the Bible in Braille, but he was bitterly disappointed to find that the explosion had also damaged the nerve endings in his lips.

One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue touched a few of the Braille characters, and he realized that he could use his tongue to read the Bible. By the time Sumner wrote his book, the man had read the entire Bible four times.

What a passion for the Word of God!

Apollos had that kind of passion. As a gifted, educated Jewish man from Alexandria, he loved to teach the Word of God in the synagogues, but he had one limitation: Apollos didn’t fully understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He finally received that understanding when he visited Ephesus and came under the teaching of Aquila and Priscilla, a married couple who lived in the city.

From then on, Apollos couldn’t be stopped. He moved from Ephesus to Corinth, where he met the apostle Paul and made such an impression on the church there that some of the believers credited him with starting their church (see 1 Corinthians 1:10-17). Apollos was an eloquent speaker, but he became a great teacher and preacher because he had the passion for God’s Word that all men of God need.

The Bible contains everything you need for living a victorious, powerful life of faith. If you have a passion for that kind of life, you will need a passion for God’s Word.