Acts 2:37-47

The Ingathering

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I was reading this section of scripture last week and couldn't get over how far we are from the model of the original disciples. The main focus these days is fellowship and the rest kind of falls by the way side. Sure most churches have communion/the Lord's supper once a month but that's still less then the word says to do it. Occassionally, often in times of strife, people will get together to pray, though the modern prayer movement has the potential to change that. And yeah some people will read the Bible, sometimes but a lot of people need a Bible study to get the motivation to actually do it. 
So yeah, we aren't as good as them because they were doing those things continually. So what was the result of their devotion? They lived in awe of God and they actually had Him around and working. So what if we do the same thing? Then it would happen for us too. 
I won't even go into how a true community operates within the community but it is another fruit of devotion - no not the five minutes of time spent with the bible open while thoughts of everything else run through the mind but a radical sold out life where nothing matters. That whole no two masters thing. Well I guess I did get into it, but it is kind of on my heart so I couldn't help it.