Bible Reading: Nehemiah 4,5 & 6; Acts 2: 24-47
“And 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” Acts 2:46 (KJV).
The strength of the body of Christ lies on the unity of purpose which our scripture of today refer to as ‘one accord’ and ‘singleness of heart’. They were united in their believe, in their thought and in their approach. The product of unity is strength and power. We can attest to this from Nehemiah in our reading of today. As a result of unity of purpose, they achieved the unimaginable, rebuilding the entire walls in fifty two days. The scripture recorded in Acts 2:44 (KJV): “And all that believed were together, and had all things common”. It was this singleness of heart that gave the Holy Spirit easy access to operate with so much power among them. The result of this was that “…fear came upon every soul: and great wonders and signs were done by the apostles” Acts 2:43(KJV).
In their gathering the emphasis was serving Christ with a clear conscience and living together preferring one another in love. This created a smooth platform for the operation of the Holy Spirit amongst them. It is no wonder then that when Peter spoke in one crusade, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” Acts 2:41 (KJV).
The bane of fruitfulness among the gathering of believers today is disunity as a result of distrust, inordinate ambition, title seeking and hunger for power. There is so much interplay of gossip, backstabbing, greed and selfishness among the gathering of believers. It is no wonder that the operation of the Spirit of God is curtailed among us. The church gathers to praise God divided in thought and mind. Our focus is not single so also is our reason for gathering. Many are in the church for the miracles, riches and fame so their focus is not Christ. As a result of this disunited front the body of Christ has lost its fruitfulness of genuine converts. Politics has been brought to church and along with it came diverse opinions that are inimical to the body of Christ resulting in division among us. Unbelievers and unbelieving behaviour has moved into the church to give our praise and worship loudness that is void of power, holiness and love within us.
In our study of Nehemiah today, it was clear that unity gave them victory over their enemies. Their enemies could not penetrate their rank, and as such failed in every attempt to frustrate the work of God. We must as Christians make the book of Nehemiah our signpost of operation. It is only then that we can witness true revival that will sweep off from our society the dominance of evil. This can only come through genuine repentance from the ungodly ways among believers and pursue of singleness of heart.
Prayer: Oh God, send down the rain of revival among the believers anchored on true love for Christ and the brethren.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo