What does real devotion look like?

Acts 2: The Spirit-Empowered Foundation of the Early Church

• Acts 2:42–47 gives us a vital snapshot of this early Christian community:
  • They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer”
  • “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles”.
  • “All the believers were together and held all things in common,” even selling their possessions and property to distribute proceeds to those in need.
  • They met daily in the temple and broke bread from house to house, eating their food with “joyful and sincere hearts”.
  • They praised God, enjoyed favor with all the people, and “every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved”

Now, this passage is far more than just a simple summary of what the early church did or where they met. It’s a profound picture of Spirit-empowered living that marks the beginning of something truly new in redemptive history. The entire chapter of Acts 2 signals the start of the new covenant era, characterized by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the preaching of the gospel, and the formation of a new people of God.

A powerful, symbolic detail of this new beginning is that three thousand people were saved and baptized after Peter’s sermon. This number isn’t random.

I want you to think back to Exodus 32, where three thousand died under God’s judgment when Israel worshiped a golden calf. But now, at the beginning of the new covenant, three thousand are brought to life. The contrast is deliberate: “The law brought death. The Spirit brings life.” A new people are being formed, not centered around Mount Sinai, but around the resurrected Christ. And this Spirit-empowered community would be marked by deep, enduring devotion, beginning with devotion to the Word of God.

A Harvest and a Reversal: The Deeper Meaning of Pentecost
To truly grasp the depth of Acts 2, we have to recognize when these events unfold—on the day of Pentecost.

When we hear “Pentecost,” we usually think of the Holy Spirit descending, but for first-century Jews, Pentecost was a major festival marking the completion of the barley harvest. This historical backdrop isn’t just helpful; it’s theologically rich6. It’s a clue that God is bringing something significant to completion.

Many of the people in Jerusalem that day were not just local Jews but had returned from nations where their ancestors had been scattered during the exile. They had lived for hundreds of years outside the land, remnants of a people once judged, dispersed, and displaced. Unbeknownst to them, they were the “harvest” God was gathering. As Peter preached and the Holy Spirit moved, people were “cut to the heart” and baptized into a new covenant community7. This is exactly what God promised through Jeremiah: “You will find me…and I will gather you from all the nations where I have banished you”. The physical harvest of Pentecost was transformed into a spiritual harvest, where God gathered His people by the Spirit and the gospel, reversing what was scattered, lost, and judged.

Acts 2 is a powerful reversal of the Tower of Babel:

In Genesis 11, humanity united in pride to build a tower and “make a name for themselves,” leading God to confuse their language and scatter them across the earth9. This scattering and linguistic confusion symbolized humanity’s fractured relationship with God and one another9.

But in Acts 2, as the Spirit is poured out, the disciples miraculously speak in different languages, and people from every nation hear the gospel in their own tongue. This is the “exact opposite of Babel”. God is reversing the curse, bringing “clarity where there was confusion, unity where there was division, and understanding where there was chaos”/

This demonstrates that the gospel is for “every nation,” foreshadowing a future where people from all tribes and tongues will be reconciled to God and one another as “one body, under one Lord, Jesus Christ”

Cultivating Individual Devotion to God’s Word

At the heart of this new, Spirit-filled community was their devotion to “the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). That detail isn’t incidental; it’s essential. Before there was radical generosity, shared meals, daily gatherings, signs, wonders, or explosive growth, there was a deep, Spirit-born devotion to the Word of God. The early believers were not casually interested in Scripture; they were “hungry,” eager to learn how the Old Testament pointed to Jesus and how their lives were now reoriented around Him. Their devotion was “worshipful,” flowing from awe at God’s identity, His deeds, and the fact that He still speaks. This devotion was, and still is, the foundation of a healthy, growing church, viewing God’s Word not just as truth but as “the voice of the living God”.

For many, “being devoted to the Word” can feel like an obligation—to read more or try harder—driven by law. However, biblical devotion stems “not from law but from awe”. It flows from awe at who God is, what He has done, and the reality that the God of the universe has spoken, inviting us to listen. Scripture is not a task to complete but a “treasure to receive”. It is “inspired—breathed out by God—and given for teaching, correction, training in righteousness, and equipping for every good work”. It reveals God’s character, communicates His promises, and instructs us in faithful living.

For those who feel inadequate or intimidated by Scripture, Acts 2 offers encouragement: through faith in Christ, God gives us His Spirit, who provides understanding. When we regularly open the Bible with open hearts, God reveals new truths, bringing clarity, conviction, and insight, which in turn grows our desire for His Word. True devotion to Scripture begins with awe and is sustained by it.

I remember when my daughter Grace was about nine months old, and we gave her Polish sausage for the first time. As soon as it touched her mouth, her face just lit up! She ignored everything else15. That’s the kind of response Psalm 34:8 is talking about when it says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” There’s a “joy that comes from firsthand experience” when God’s Word moves beyond the page and takes root in the soul.

Scripture isn’t just for study; it’s for “savoring”. It’s not merely a resource for theological accuracy or moral direction, but “food for the soul”. Once you’ve tasted how personal, timely, and alive God’s Word can be, “nothing else compares”. So please, don’t settle for spiritual snacks; “feed on the fullness of God’s Word,” as it deeply satisfies and grows your appetite for more.

Growing in devotion also involves “removing ‘weeds'”. Yesterday, I spent some time weeding our garden beds, and I was reminded that cultivating a healthy garden isn’t just about planting the right things, but also removing the wrong ones. The same is true in our spiritual lives. If we want the Word of God to grow in us, we have to make room for it. That means being honest about the distractions, behaviors, and rhythms that steal our focus and drain our spiritual appetite. This applies to all of us, but especially to students, whose hearts are being shaped every day. We need to ask ourselves: What’s robbing our hunger for God’s Word? What’s crowding out our margin for prayer, study, or reflection? For many, social media is probably the biggest one. We all know the feeling after too much scrolling: more anxious, more distracted, more numb. But think about how you feel after even “10–15 honest minutes in God’s Word”. The fog clears, your heart steadies, your mind resets. So yes, plant truth—but also pull weeds. Make space for what really matters, because God wants to meet you there and grow something real, lasting, and life-giving within you.

Communal Devotion: A Word-Shaped Church
Devotion to God’s Word is not solely personal; it is also communal. In Acts 2, the church didn’t just scatter to study privately; they “gathered around the apostles’ teaching” to understand the story of Jesus together, and the Spirit met them in that shared hunger. The same should be true of the church today. The Word of God must be at the center of who we are and how we worship.
That’s why we prioritize expositional preaching. It means the main point of the sermon should be the main point of the biblical passage. We don’t want to use the Bible to support our ideas; we want the Bible to set the agenda. Because when we open God’s Word, we believe God speaks, and when the Spirit of God speaks through the Word of God, “the people of God are changed”. This is why we bring our Bibles, follow along, and lean in—because when the church gathers around God’s Word with open hearts, God forms us into the likeness of Christ.

When a church is truly devoted to God’s Word, it doesn’t just shape the preaching—it shapes “everything”.

• It shapes our songs, prioritizing “rich, biblical truth set to music” that aids worship.
• It shapes children’s and student ministries, ensuring kids learn memory verses, understand the big story of Scripture, and wrestle with deep truths from an early age.
• It shapes groups, making the Word central for “growth, care, and equipping”.
• It shapes the overall church culture, where every generation learns to value Scripture, and adults model listening to God and living out His Word.

When the church is rooted in the Word, it becomes “strong, unified, and ready to live on mission together”.

And here’s the thing about devotion to God’s Word—it’s not a one-time decision. It’s something we grow in over the course of a lifetime. Living in our instant world, so many of us want instant results, but that’s not how true change happens. Devotion to God’s Word, and the change that comes through it, is more like “watching a tree grow – slow, steady, and over years”. This lifelong, Spirit-empowered devotion slowly but surely transforms us to look more and more like Jesus.

As Don Whitney wisely stated: “Do not expect to master the Bible in a day, or a month, or a year… rather… let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again and again… as the years go by, imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct”. He said that we will probably be the last to recognize these changes, and often we will feel very small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become wonderfully great to us.

Friends, that’s why we devote ourselves to God’s Word. Because through it, God is forming us, feeding us, and shaping us into the image of His Son. And one day, when we see Jesus face to face, we’ll know—that daily devotion wasn’t wasted. It was worship. It was preparation for glory.