They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42
Jesus came and brought the kingdom of God to His followers. He then gave His life so that we could be part of that kingdom, that we could live in the presence of God forever. When Jesus was resurrected, He gave His followers a commission; to go into the world and teach others the good news, to baptize them into the body of Christ. This was the birth of the church. We have one purpose and that is to make known the Gospel – the power of salvation, to all people.
That first church was unified in its mission. They were dedicated to being different. Acts 2 says, They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
For us, this means we need to be in God’s Word. We need to study it, wrestle with it, and share questions and revelations with each other. Pastor Timothy Keller once said, “Sometimes we confuse our agenda we have for God with God Himself. The best way to not speak for Him and let Him speak to you – the scriptures.” How many of us have an agenda and we think God should work within those boundaries? In moral situations, in areas of sin, “I would answer this way so I’m sure God would answer that way as well.” The best way to combat this is to know what God says. By being devoted to learning His word, we can know His heart and then obey Him.
In real terms, this means we all need to dust off our Bibles and begin to read it. We need to engage in a good Bible study to learn what God is saying to us, to know Him. We need to be devoted to learning together. The Bible calls this iron sharpening iron. John Piper says, “If most people would trade their TV time for Bible reading, they’d finish the entire Bible in four weeks or less.”
What about us? Are you hungering for the word of God or are you fat on the words of the world? What can you do today to begin a life-change in this area? Let me know how God is working in your life and transforming you into His image.