January 11
Verse of the Day for January 11
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.Acts 2:42 KJV
The Key of Beginnings · Day 11 of 31
Reflection · 3 min read
They Kept Turning Up
Three thousand people are added in a day. It is the most dramatic growth in the New Testament, and what Luke describes next is remarkably undramatic.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
They continued stedfastly. The word carries the sense of persisting, of attending to something with strength, of refusing to drift away from it.
And what they continued in is a short and ordinary list: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers. No strategy. Four practices, repeated.
It is worth sitting with how unimpressive that list would look if you wrote it on a page today. Listen to teaching. Eat with people. Share a table. Pray. Nothing there requires talent, funding or a platform, and every item can be done by anyone on an ordinary weekday.
The verses that follow describe wonders, shared possessions, daily growth. But those are the fruit. Verse forty-two is the root, and the root is attendance.
They kept turning up to four ordinary things, together, for long enough that a city noticed.
No strategy.Four things, repeated.
The church that turned the empire over did not have a plan you could put on a slide. It had a habit list of four items and people who kept showing up to them.
Steadfastly is not a feeling. It is a diary.
Carry this today
Which of the four have you quietly dropped?
Pray
Read Acts 2:41–47
41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Keep praying
Reflection by Collins Asein, from the daily devotionals in the PrayerKey app. Bible text: King James Version.