Acts 20:11 ‘And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.’ (ESV)
Are folks as eager to talk at length of the things of God today?
If we were to make an inventory of the topics we converse about, would it include?
- Our experiences of the saving grace of God and how our lives have been changed?
- Subsequent experiences of the Holy Spirit in the manifestation and employment/deployment of whatever spiritual gifts we may have been blessed with?
- How the Holy spirit has changed us in terms of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We may share how they have become a part of us rather than us having to try and act in a particular fashion. As Jesus was love, joy, peace etc. And as the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus, so these qualities become more evident in us.
- We might share concerns and pray for one another.
- We might spend time rejoicing in the accounts of the Holy Spirit at work in different places and fellowships – to the Glory of God!
Conversation about, and with, God enables our spiritual development, education, and experience. When left unattended or under stimulated they can become stale and moribund.
There are references in Scripture of trees being planted by fresh water and growing fruit in all seasons (Ps. 1:3, Jer. 17:8, Rev. 22:2). In our conversations are we encouraging the ‘trees’ of faith in each other to grow deeper in knowledge and experience of God and draw up spiritual nourishment and thus better and more fruit?
‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1Pet. 2:9 NIV)
