Reaching to Belong

Nolan Hopkins // From the Daily Devotionals

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Acts 2:46-47 NIV

As the summer comes to an end, these verses in the book of Acts excite me. Everyone is returning from their vacations, getting back into their routines, and jumping back into school. And although I am sorry to see summer go, I am looking forward to doing more of what is described in this passage: breaking bread with others, enjoying the company of my community, and praising God together. 

Looking further at Acts 2:47, though, something sticks out to me. At the end of the verse it says that "the Lord added to their number daily," not that the believers in the book of Acts added to their own numbers.

Although verses like Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15 command us to "make disciples of all nations" and to "go into all the world and preach the gospel," it is ultimately God who does all the work of bringing people into His Kingdom. Whether it is by placing a neighbor in your path at the grocery store, having catch up with a childhood friend, or starting a conversation with a complete stranger, God is at work bringing people into His family and wants us to be a part of growing the Kingdom. 

As your friends, family, and neighbors begin to return to their routines these next few weeks, who can you be praying for for God to bring into His Kingdom? How can you be prepared to seize the opportunities that God provides to share the Gospel and invite others to know and love Christ? You may be surprised by how God works to add daily to His family.