The Fellowship Of Believers - The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge
The Fellowship of Believers
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. Acts 2:42
I wish I could say that since I made the decision to accept Christ as my Savior and follow Him and His teaching for my life, my growth in Him has been a picture of a consistently ascending climb toward Him. It hasn’t. The more accurate depiction of my journey is described by my friend, a math major in college, as a sine wave—up and down in its flow, but very irregular in the consistency of time spent between the points.
I know better; we all do. The early Christians devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, sharing time and meals, and prayer. They were friends who listened, encouraged, and learned from each other. They realized they needed each other to create and maintain a meaningful and consistent pattern of growth in the Christian faith.
In the past few years, I have begun to do much better with that. The most important component for me has been the local church. We lived in five different cities during my NFL career, and my family was always able to find a solid Bible-teaching church in which to worship. Because of my job, however, I was not always able to get to church on Sundays, so finding other ways to study the Bible and grow spiritually became important to me.
I have a group of men—friends, fellow brothers, and believers in Christ—whom I trust and with whom I share on a regular basis. Since we are scattered across the country and can’t always get together face-to-face, we have committed to spend time each week via a phone conference, sharing, encouraging, and praying for each other.
I also spend time with my dear friend James Brown when I am in New York for those weekly football broadcasts. JB has brought together a group of employees from the hotel where we stay to study, pray, and share together. It is extremely uplifting and encouraging for me.
And then I try to consistently spend quiet time on my own with the Lord each day—usually in the morning before the day begins to fold in around me.
What about you? Will you commit, along with me, to spend more time with Him each day, to grow more in your relationship with Him? Deal?
Uncommon Key > It is important to find a gospel-preaching church when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. In addition to worshiping with that church body, try to meet with a smaller group of people on a regular basis to study God’s Word and pray together. The bonds that you make will strengthen you for Kingdom work.
