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Reading - The Christian in Fellowship (Acts 2:42-47)
Psalm 1 regards as blessed the man "who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers". It seems impossible to live such that we avoid the wicked, sinners and mockers and, although some have, down the centuries, tried to do just that by forming closed communities and living monastic lifestyles, it was never Jesus' intention that we should cut ourselves off from the world. His instruction to "go into all the world" (Mark 16:15) and his own example as well as that of his disciples make it clear that, although we are not of the world, we are very much to be in the world. We are to be "the light of the world, a city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14).
Being in the world we know that we are to expect trouble (John 16:33). We know that "our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". We are told that we are to "resist him, standing firm in the faith…" (1 Peter 5:8-9).
There is a real danger that we will be tempted to order our lives according to the world around us and to think as the unsaved think (walk in the counsel of the wicked); to identify too closely and sympathise inappropriately with them (stand in the way of sinners); and to settle into a compromise that makes us too comfortable with the world (sit in the seat of mockers). The psalmist's answer for the blessed man or woman who would be blessed is to "…delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night"
Such a person is, "Like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers…the Lord watches over the way the righteous".
As Christians in the world we have the perfect example in the second chapter of Acts of how we are to achieve what the psalmist writes about. Those early Christians:
"Devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching [walked in the counsel of the wise and delighted in the law of the Lord], and to fellowship [stood in the way of the faithful], to the breaking of bread and to prayer [sat in the seat of believers]… 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 favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Notice the result of this faithful fellowship and devotion to building up the church - "[they] enjoyed the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
It is no wonder the writer to the Hebrews earnestly wrote:
"Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Who will you meet with this week? Who will you encourage and where will you seek encouragement? Do you "delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night"?