Living Stones

A good thought from a devotion this morning. Chew and enjoy!

You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.— 1 Peter 2:5

If you were in a restaurant with some friends and said, "Now, I have a secret I want to share with you. I don't want you to share this with anyone else, . . . " you can be sure they would start leaning forward. The people seated at the tables nearby would too. That's because everyone likes a secret.

Acts 2 contains what seems to be a secret to many people: the secret, if you will, of the early church. Yet it seems many churches today are in a race as to who can have the biggest church or the fastest-growing church or the coolest church. But I am far more interested in a biblical church.

The template given in Acts 2 for the church was followed by a handful of believers who left their world a different way than they found it. Yet the time in which they were living was difficult. There was rampant immorality. The Roman government was corrupt. Most of the religious establishment was corrupt as well. Everywhere the Christians went, they were ridiculed, opposed, persecuted, and even physically assaulted.

So what was the secret of the early church? They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were sent out by the Holy Spirit. And they understood that everyone was called to do their part. Every person mattered.

A Spartan king was boasting to a visiting ruler about the walls of Sparta when he pointed to his bodyguard of magnificent troops and said, "These are the walls of Sparta. Every man is a brick."

In the church, every person is a brick. We are living stones placed in the church, each with gifts that God has given to us to contribute toward the work of the church. How are you doing your part in the church today?