Heaven's Social System

Acts 2:45 "And sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."

After receiving the Holy Spirit in the upper room, Jesus' disciples start preaching the Way and the early church is growing steadily in Jerusalem. The believers meet in the temple and homes and a community of followers of Jesus is developing. In this new gathering of the saints, the focus is on teaching the Word, fellowship with one another, the Lord's supper, and praying together. They are single minded in their pursuit of a Christian life, unified and empowered by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this verse we find out that they went as far as selling all their possessions and divided them up in the group in order to meet all the needs that were present amongst each other.
The world and its political systems have tried to find various ways to take care of those that are less fortunate and have less. It usually involves some way of trying to get to entice those that have money to give it to the poor. Foundations have been established, government programs, various religious organizations, or even worldwide bodies like the UN, all in order to find a better way to live - a way to bring justice and equality to the living conditions of the inhabitant of this planet. In recent times socialism has spread across the globe to establish that utopian society in which none would suffer hunger and all would be living on an acceptable level. Trillions are spent on trying to improve the human condition, yet all efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger seem to be in vain. Why is that? All these efforts of the world have failed because there is still one aspect of created man that is working against all attempts to make this world a better place and is throwing a wrench in any machinery designed to help one another: his sinful nature. We are at our core selfish and evil and do not want to part with our resources freely. We may be compelled to give to others out of guilt, necessity, or even forced to give through taxes and fees, but when it comes down to it we want to hold on to what we have and take care of our own lives first. Then, if there is anything left over, we may give some to those that we like and that have touched our lives in some way. We are looking out for number one and our perceived needs have to be met before we can even start to think of meeting anyone else's needs.
So what on earth compelled the early church to do such a thing, as to sell all they had and give freely to one another? Did Peter go around and force them to give up all? Did they make up some set of rules and regulations to get them to give if they want to be part of this special group? No, the giving happened out of free choice. The early believers wanted to give and meet the needs of those around them. The secret lies in the fact that when they gave up their lives and believed unto Jesus for their salvation that the Holy Spirit came to live in them and gave them a new heart. They became a new creation, one that is not subject to the sinful nature of man, but rather subject to the holy nature of God. Jesus nailed the sinful flesh on the cross and dealt with the deadly effects of our old nature once and for all. To be truly loving, compassionate and caring, we have to have God living in us and transform us from the inside out. Only then can we care about each other in a way that we want to help and give up our own cares and replace them with cares for others. Jesus has already taken care of us; He has saved us from a destiny in hell, given us a new Spirit and nature, and promised to give us everything we have need of. He is the Lord of our lives and works in us to perfect us into His image. We do not need to worry about supplying for our needs. He has it handled. and He can take care of us much better than we ever could. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." And this now frees us up to take care of the needs of others. Everything we have comes from God and should freely flow through us to be given to each other. This is the heavenly social system. This is the one government program that will always work and never bankrupt our resources, for the heavenly bankroll is infinite.

Application
I want to have the security in Christ's provision, so that I, too, can freely give all that I have without worrying about my needs being met. Therefore today I will read and meditate on Matthew chapter 6 and ask God to help me surrender all worries and anxieties.