In Acts 2:44-47, we read:
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Who added to the church daily those who were being saved? That’s right. God did. Not evangelists. Not preachers. Not teachers. Not apostles. Not people like you and me. God did.
If we believe that God was adding to His church then, doesn’t it stand to reason that God is still adding to His church now?
If this is our belief, that God does the adding, it should give us a new view of the people who come to our churches. They don’t come on a whim. God is drawing them to Himself. So, it follows that He leads them to other believers.
The question is: Will we be the answer to the prayer Jesus prayed for all believers in John 17:23 when He said:
I in them and You (Father) in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that You sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
What an important point Jesus is making here! It’s not just the marriage relationship where people are to become one. Jesus was praying for all believers that we may be made perfect in one.
As you think about the people God has brought into your life, who are you one with?
Is it someone from Antigua or Argentina?
Perhaps Barbados or Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Croatia, the Czech Republic or Cuba?
Maybe you’re one with someone from Dominica or Ecuador or El Salvador. Maybe Germany, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti or India or Italy.
Is it someone from Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines or Portugal?
Are you one with someone from Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, or St. Vincent and the Grenadines?
Maybe you are one with someone from Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States of America or someone from Zimbabwe?
Maybe it's someone from a country not on this list.
In addition to being the answer to Jesus’ prayer: look at all we can learn when we become one with others. Look at what our children and grandchildren can learn about the world, and about being a follower of Jesus if we just talk to one another, ask questions and be respectful of the answers.
As human beings, we tend to be selective about who love, and even then, we may not be one with them. But, we don’t have permission to pick and choose. The second part of the Great Commandment is to love our neighbour as ourself.
Jesus prayed that we would be made perfect in one. Who can you become one with today, or at least start to become one with?
Does the idea of having a loving relationship with the people around you sound like too much to have to do? Here’s the comfort: Since Jesus is calling us to do this, we can trust and believe that He will help us.
Here are some things I think we could pray about today.
We could ask God to give us eyes that see each person as His child, made in His image, loved by Him, redeemed by Jesus, a temple of the Holy Spirit; to see each person as someone we can learn to love, we can learn to become one with.
We could ask God to break our hearts with the things that are breaking His heart. We could ask Him to save us from the hardness of our hearts.
We could ask God to help us be obedient to what He’s teaching us, and to give us courage to stand against sin.
We could pray, “May Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
We could ask these things, and more, in the precious and mighty name of Jesus.
What is our faith worth to us?
As always, the choice is ours.