Do you ever catch yourself with a bite of something, wishing someone in particular was around to enjoy it with you? When we truly have something we love and enjoy, we want others to experience it as well. A shared meal, a concert, even a movie night on the couch with a friend, these are all things we go out of our way to experience together with people.

The early church in Acts 2 was eager to share in the spiritual blessings that they enjoyed together, so much so that they deliberately gave up their enjoyment of physical wealth. They decided that getting to spend time “feeling a sense of awe” (Acts 2:43) was much more important than their ownership of property or things. In view of that, the conclusion was to get rid of the material in order to support the spiritual!

Here’s the message in that story: evaluate what is really important and apply your gifts accordingly.

The early church is a challenge to the modern church. Will God’s people choose to give up possessions in order to help our fellow believers be with us, or will we enjoy the ease we have while others struggle? Do we truly want to be together and be as that church was, feeling a sense of awe?

I believe we do. Let’s act on it

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published May 25, 2022