Meditate: Acts 2:46
It’s interesting to think that the life of this fledgling Church centered around daily gathering. It’s not as if none of them worked.
Life was certainly hard enough in those times. Virtually everything had to be done by hand. Grinding your own flour to bake your own bread wasn’t just a trendy hobby.
No central heat, A/C or indoor plumbing. A horse and cart was the upper end of transportation technology.
Passing the word meant just that-messages still involved real messengers.
What passed for a “high standard of living” is something you’d have to go to the most impoverished third world country to see in our world. Crime and a lack of street lights meant that it was a really good idea to be home at a very reasonable hour.
And still, this time of Word, prayer, and community still rated daily attention. Somehow they find room in their schedules.
Now put away your sackcloth and ashes. I’m not asking you to punish yourself at how “unspiritual” we’ve become.
See, what I get out of this is that they used the methods common to their culture to express how Jesus had joined them together. Going daily to the Temple showed the place God had in their lives. In a world with no telephones or email, meeting up was the standard way to really communicate. Taking meals together was something only families (or people “like family”) did; you didn’t’ bring strangers to your table.
But the fact is that we wouldn’t dream of meeting down at the church every day or of taking over a different restaurant for lunch each day just so we can stay in touch. And it’s easy to just say that times have changed and move along without asking what this level of commitment to God and our brothers and sisters would look like in our culture.
I once heard a guy say that if you’d show him your checkbook and your calendar, he could tell you what mattered to you. Well, I often hear people say that they’re longing to see God move in our day as He has in days past. Maybe you’ve even said this so let me ask…
- Is there a place in my schedule for God?
- Who does Jesus’ join me together with?
- How can I meaningfully communicate with my Christian brothers and sisters?
- How can we show our world that we’re God’s family?
Pray:
Praise: You are the Lord of All, including time and culture.
Confess: Independence is a hard attitude for me to overcome.
Thank: You have given me brothers and sisters all over the world.
Ask: Teach me how to communicate the Truth of You to my world.
Digging Deeper: Philippians 2:1-18
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