Another look at the book of The Acts of the Apostles; I infer that the kinds of people who lived during the emergence of the Apostles could be categorized into two.
And I believe we they still exist among us;
- They were people who knew God and believed following God had to do with only obeying the laws. These were the men and women who knew God but did not believe in Jesus Christ; they believed Christianity was only about obeying the rules God gave us through Moses, and these they did in “self-righteousness”
They refused to gain full access into the wonderful presence of God through Jesus Christ, they refused to be filled up with the spirit of God. These deprived them of the adventure of being Christ-like. I believe this is why many Christians fail to enjoy Christianity and tend to tag living as a Christian rigid or boring.
These are men and women who have doubts in their hearts about the works of the Lord just like the Scribes and the Sadducees. Acts 4:1-7
These men and women lack the ability to love or express it, they are blinded and driven by their own selfish ambitions. I mean who puts a man in prison for doing good? Acts 5:17-18
The list goes on and on, but there is no way one can enjoy or live the best Christian life this way.
The infilling and expression of the Holy Spirit in a man’s life makes a difference. The Holy spirit is many things to a man. It is the spirit of creativity, innovation, direction, insight, signs, and wonders and it goes on. This brings me to the second group of people:
- They were the people who knew God, and went all in and out about Him; they were constantly conforming to being Christ-like. Hence they were referred to as Christians in Antioch and it continued. Acts 11:26
The Holy Spirit upon the lives of the disciples gave them the language of other nations. This I believe broke any barrier that existed between them and the Galileans on the day of Pentecost; for example, being able to speak the language of your business partner from another country brings any cultural background down and increases the flow of communication.
Right after the encounter with the Holy Spirit, there was boldness to do things they would not have been able to do by their strength only.
Peter preached about the love and gospel of Jesus Christ to the Galileans, and their numbers increased by over three thousand lives. Despite these increasing number of people, there was love and unity amongst them. The Bible tells us that they fellowshipped with each other, sold their properties, brought the proceeds to the church, shared it amongst themselves, so did they with their food and clothing. There is no way you can tell such a community would have been boring.
That is what the Spirit of God does; it enables sweet fellowship with God and even amongst ourselves.
The Holy Spirit teaches us about the ways of God; because our God is dynamic. For example, the dream Peter had about the unclean animals, the Holy Spirit gave Him knowledge about the meaning and steps to take. Acts 10:1-28.
The disciples went from City to City spreading the Gospel; a man filled with the Holy Spirit cannot remain in one spot.
The Holy activates gifts within a man that takes Him places to the glory of God
Examining the lives of the disciples, they were joyful, happy, living their best lives. They served God with so much joy. Despite persecution, hate messages, even in the face of death.
I dare conclude that these men and women of God had an adventure serving the Lord. We also can decide to not have a boring, routined Christian life.
May my good Lord help us all in Jesus name