Acts 4:32-35

“All the believers were one in heart and mind.

No one claimed that any of his possessions was his

own, but they shared everything they had.”

                  – Acts 4:32

What is God’s Word for me today?

I love the children’s story of the skin horse. It had lived in the child’s nursery longer than any other stuffed animal. He was so old that his coat was going bald and his insides were being revealed. The rabbit asked him, “What is real? Does ‘real’ mean having things that buzz inside of you?” The skin horse replied, “No. ‘Real’ isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a really long time, you become real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the skin horse. “But when you are real, you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen all at once?” asked the rabbit. “No, you become,” said the skin horse. “It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen for you if you break easily or have sharp edges. By the time you become real, most of your hair has been loved off, and you become wobbly. But it doesn’t matter, because once you are real, you can’t be ugly except to people who don’t understand.”

Think of the church as one big collection of skin horses. The early church (Acts 4) was a bunch of skin horses. They shared everything. They loved each other. They went through hard times. But it made them real. What about you? Are you willing to pay the price to enter into the Body of Christ in a way that is risky, and that can sometimes hurt? Only then do you become real.

How does this make me become like Him?

The church is full of hurting people. Sometimes the reason we hurt is because of each other. We are a bunch of skin horses. But that is love. That is being real. Put yourself at risk by loving the Body of Christ. Sure, it hurts sometimes. But it is always worth it. And that is how you become like Him.