Acts 2:46,47

Daily Occurrences In the Early Church

Those first converts were in the temple daily, likely for Bible study and worship. They also spent time together on a daily basis, as "breaking bread from house to house" would seem to indicate. Their daily partaking of food was done out of hearts filled with "extreme joy" (Thayer) and simplicity, which Lenski says is a noun "derived from an adjective which means 'without a stone,' hence perfectly smooth and even, metaphorically, a condition that is undisturbed by anything contrary." Thus, those early Christians praised God for the forgiveness of sins and the community of believers of which he had made them a part. The other folks who lived in Jerusalem found them to be an acceptable group.

Seemingly as a direct result of their daily activities, Luke goes on to say, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46-47). It is important to realize the Lord is the one responsible for bringing forth fruit. Too many have been too quick to take credit for growth in the church, while often blaming others when there is no growth. Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Like those early Christians, today's followers of the Lord need to give themselves over to daily study, sharing, meeting together and hearts filled with extreme joy and simplicity. The results might well be daily conversions because we will have once again turned our lives over to the Lord.