Digging Deeper: Fruits of Your Labor
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls . . . And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:41, 47b (ESV)
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Romans 10:13-15 (ESV)
FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR
My goal in writing this week’s Digging Deeper was to encourage each of us to examine our own spiritual life. What areas in your life do you need to walk away from? Listen to the convicting voice of the Spirit, allowing His power to strengthen your faith. Build on that faith by digging deeper into God’s Word. Let that knowledge transform your heart to be more like Jesus every day.
Take your faith out for a walk—practice kindness, generosity, and love.
Finally, fortify your faith in community. Join a small group. Serve together. Worship together. There is strength in numbers—the body of Christ grows, and the faith of individual members deepens.
As Mike reminds us frequently, the Christian life is not meant to be a solo flight. If God’s only purpose in salvation was the act itself, you wouldn’t still be here on Earth reading this. As we see in the passages from Acts, at least three thousand souls were added to the early church in one day (v. 41), and many more were saved in the days that followed (v. 47b).
Having strong faith is a gift, but as James writes, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Works must accompany our faith. It does us no good to build, strengthen, and fortify our faith, only to leave it sitting on the mantle. If the new converts in the early church had departed that day and never shared their faith, where would the church be today?
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is the progression we find in Romans. I love the logical flow from “What shall we do?”—to calling on the name of the Lord—to Living Sent. Peter checked off every box in his sermon on that special day:
He lived sent—he preached the Gospel—people heard the good news—they believed—their cry of “What shall we do?” was answered—and they were saved!
We should all strive to be those “beautiful feet” that carry the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are crying out for an answer. Get on your feet, and take those new spiritual “muscles” out into the world. You may not save three thousand, but heaven rejoices with just one!
Digging Deeper (er):
Colossians 1:10; 1 Peter 4:10; 2 Peter 1:5-9
Phil Meade is a father of 3, and grandfather of 5. He has a Masters Degree in Theological Studies from Liberty University, and lives in Acworth. He has led various small groups throughout his more than 20 years attending NS. He retired after 8 years as an Air Force pilot, and 33 years as a Delta pilot.