Acts 2:42-47 | God's CommunitySample

There’s a word at the beginning of Acts 2:42 one can easily take for granted. It’s devoted. Those first followers of Jesus devoted themselves to practicing the life found in the new community.

It doesn’t seem like they did it out of compunction. That sometimes comes into the mix, and praise be to God when his Spirit reminds us of what we’re neglecting, but it seems there’s something deeper than that.

The trajectory of the book of Acts suggests that this devotion the believers had was far more than straight compunction. They devoted themselves to Christ and each other in this new way of life because they wanted to.

That’s what the Spirit does. He drives us to a new kind of life. Jesus describes it as such a radical change of heart, it can be described as being born again. When we come to faith in Christ and receive the Spirit, he drives us to want to think, love, act, and gather around Jesus. It becomes the center of our being and source of motivation. Welcome to life in the Spirit!

Today, read Acts 2:42-47 again. Even better, try to memorize it. Ask yourself two things as you read it: (1) What aspect of this am I yearning for? And (2) What aspect of this do I need to devote to?

Then ask God to help you realize the former and practice the latter. Because all of us are on a journey of spiritual formation with the Spirit.