Devoted

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.“
Acts 2:42-47

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

Around the age of three, each of my children latched on to a particular childhood icon and talked about it constantly. For one of my sons, it was dinosaurs. For my daughter it was Hello Kitty. At least for a time, my children were devoted to these things. They spent a good part of each day pursuing their passion with their minds, imaginations, time, and energy (and when they could persuade me, my money).

A powerful word in our passage for this week is devoted. What does this descriptive verb tell us about the early community of Christ followers?

Verse 42 says they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. This indicates a sizeable investment of time and energy on everyone’s part. They met together every day at the temple. They considered all their possessions to be common property, selling as needed to meet the needs of anyone in the community. Their hearts were full of genuine joy and praise.

And each day, more and more people chose to join this community, this fellowship of Christ. More and more people devoted themselves to this way of living.

What do you think? If you saw a group of people joyfully devoting themselves to each other and to the cause of Christ to such a radical extent, would you be inclined to run towards them, or away from them?

In many ways, our “Christian” activities appear to mirror those of the early church: we study the Bible, we meet together, we pray together, we give of our time and money. But are we devoted to these things, and to each other? Do we set aside a bit of who we are for God and for the Church—or has following Christ and living within the Body overtaken our lives entirely?

Questions for reflection and discussion:

• To what aspects of life would you honestly say you are devoted?
• What would it look like if our community infiltrated our life and energy so entirely?
• Does that feel exciting or terrifying to you, and why?

Church Reading Plan: Ezekial 13; Psalm 52-54