Bible Reading – Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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 favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Devotion
The third commitment the early church held to was “the breaking of bread.” In his commentary on the book of Acts, Howard Marshall writes concerning the breaking of bread, “This is Luke’s term for what Paul calls the Lord’s Supper. It refers to the act with which a Jewish meal opened, and which gained peculiar significance for Christians in view of Jesus’ action at the Last Supper and also when He fed the multitudes.” Some believe that the thought here is simply a fellowship meal, without any specific relation to the Last Supper. In verse 46, there is a reference to “they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”
Whether “the breaking of bread” refers to the Lord’s Supper or a simple fellowship meal, the universal truth is that sharing this meal strengthened relationships. If it is the Lord’s Supper, our relationship with Christ is strengthened as we remember the sacrifice He made so that we could be reconciled to God. If it is simply a fellowship meal, our relationships with one another are strengthened as we come together to share in this common experience. The first church that I pastored back in 1992 was built on what we called “dinner ministry.” There is something special that happens when God’s people come together to share in a common meal.
The Big Question
Are you faithful in celebrating the Lord’s Supper when the church gathers corporately? Do you regularly fellowship with other believers over a common meal? Who is a family that you could invite over to dinner this next week? How are you strengthening relationships with Christ and His church?
Spend some time in prayer meditating on what God revealed to you today.