Today’s Reading : Acts 4: 32-37
KEY VERSE:
“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” Ac 4:32
We have a phrase amongst our church family “my fridge is your fridge”. It’s great! I know that if I turn up at my friend’s house and I am thirsty, I can raid his fridge for a glass of orange juice, and exercise my “fridge rights”, knowing that he will consider it a joy to share with me. And equally, “my fridge is your fridge” works the other way too. We share what God has given us, what we have is for the benefit of all not just me and mine.
There have been times that God has put it on our hearts to bless another household, to fill their fridge rather than deplete it. And I have turned up on a doorstep with a carrier bag of fridge supplies to be met with a “you shouldn’t have” or a “I can’t let you do that”. In that case I invoked my “fridge rights” in their house and filled their fridge.
I don’t say this for my own glory, I’d much rather have my treasure in heaven, but I have shared this here to show that there are two sides to living with everything in common. We need to be able to give freely as God leads, to bless and show love to one another, to meet needs where we see them and to follow the leading of the eldership in this where appropriate. But we also need to be gracious recipients as well, we need to allow people into our lives, accept gifts given with grace and humility; we need to allow people fridge rights, both to deplete and also to fill.
And this does not just apply to our fridges, we need to hold everything that God has given us lightly, share what God has given us with one another and be a blessing as we fellowship together. As we give and receive with grace and love, we demonstrate God’s power at work amongst us, and He will draw us together into one heart and one soul. In that place of unity and provision He will be glorified for all to see.
ACTION STEPS
• Why not bless someone this week with a meal, or take a bag of groceries for someone in isolation, or a financial blessing to someone who may have lost business during this Corona crisis?