In my devotions today I was reading through Acts 4 when I came across this particular passage.
32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. (Acts 4:32-35) NLT.
In my daily summit with the Living God money and possessions can keep me from moving upward towards the summit of God's holy mountain. Materialism leads to greed and selfishness, as it did with Ananias and Sapphira, whom we read about in Acts 5. Instead of being united with the rest of the body of Christ, they conspired to lie to them and say that they got less for the sale of their piece of land than they actually did. Their sin was not in what they gave to the church, but in the way they did it. Peter corrected their erroneous assumption that the church wants all of their money.
God owns everything anyway and He gives me control over that which He has entrusted me with. The core issue is not how much will I give to the church and keep for myself but, who does it all belong to in the first place? If it all belongs to God, and he is merely entrusting me with a certain portion, should I allow greed and selfishness to keep me and my family from reaping the benefits of proper stewardship?
It's also a matter of focus. Where are my eyes and my heart focused? Am I looking out for myself, or am I truly sold out to Christ and His kingdom?Am I looking towards the summit of God'sholy mountain, or am I content with the miniature kingdom I've managed to build for myself here on this earth?
The early church, as recorded in the book of Acts, did not take vows of poverty or anything like that. They simply had a different focus. Their eyes were fixed on a kingdom whose builder and maker is God.
