Time for a Growth Spurt?
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. - Philippians 3:10
One Sunday evening years ago, I went with Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, to a church where he was speaking. In his usual no-holds-barred manner, Daws began to talk about spiritual maturity. Right at the end he made a startling statement.
"Folks," Dawson said, "If some of you were as immature physically as you are spiritually, you would fall off the pew you're sitting on." Many of the congregation had known the Lord for twenty, thirty, even forty years!
Dawson often said things like that because he loved people and wanted them to wake up and become all that God wanted them to be. He closed his message by quoting Hebrews 5:12-14: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Christian, let me encourage you to look at yourself in the mirror of God's Word. What do you see? A person who is skillful or unskillful in the use of the Word? Can you hear God's voice and follow His guidance from the Word? Are you able to open the Bible and share the message of Christ with those who need it? Babyhood is wonderful, but don't drag it out over the years. Get going; get growing toward spir-itual maturity in Christ.
Prayer
Lord, I don't want to be an everlasting "baby" when it comes to understanding Your Word. Teach me, by Your Holy Spirit, to skillfully apply Your precepts in my life. Amen.
To Ponder
The contrast between spiritual infancy and spiritual maturity is not expressed by years in the faith but in familiarity with and obedience to the Word of righteousness. |
