Devotions this week based on Sunday’s Message: Compass: GROW in grace and knowledge! (LISTEN HERE)
2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
“Grow up!”
We hear this phrase when we do something that is immature for our age.
Making intentional bodily function noises as a pre-teen was funny…as an adult, not so funny.
Eating food with your fingers? Perhaps a necessity as a toddler…not so cool as a college student.
Petty relationship squabbles? Perhaps normal for middle school…not so great in the professional realm.
We are expected over time to “grow up.” While the details might be nebulous, we expect that the maturity of an individual overtime increases. We expect different behavior and way of thinking from a 30 year old than we do from a 3 year old. We expect different decisions to come from someone who is 40 versus a child who is 4.
Growth and maturity happen.
The question is, “are you growing spiritually?”
As you look back over the last year…have you grown in some aspect of your spiritual life? If you look back over the last 10, 20 or 30 years? Are you more mature?
What do I mean?
Are you still operating with the spiritual wisdom and knowledge you had as a teenager? Is your understanding and awareness of the content of the BIble greater than it was five years ago? Do you interact with others in a more Christ-like way than you did a decade ago…or 10 days ago?
The BIble expects that we grow spiritually. The elementary truths are to give way to the more advanced truths. The early application of God’s Word is to give rise the more complicated applications of the Word. What “age” are you spiritually?
I ask this question not to demean anyone. I ask it myself. While the pediatrician as a “scale of normal” to measure the growth and cognitive progress of an infant, we don’t have something so concrete and finite for our spiritual lives.
So while the measurement may be subjective, it doesn’t matter because the application is personal. Perhaps the words from Hebrews ring true:
Hebrews 5:12 In fact, 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!
The Apostle Peter encourages two broad categories: 1) Grow in grace!; 2) Grow in knowledge…of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Growth is not optional for the Christian. Growth is necessary.
I would never think about sending our daughter at 18 months away to live on her own…but at 18 years…she is able to survive and thrive on her own at college. She has grown. She has matured. Sure, there is more for her to learn and understand, but she is much better equipped to engage in college today than she was 16 years ago.
So again, I invite us to consider today and this week, “Are you growing…spiritually?” Are you enjoying an exhibiting a more mature faith today than you did last year or five years ago.
If not, you are forgiven and invited into the journey of spiritual growth…beginning today for the rest of your life.
Our devotions this week will help encourage and practically guide a new season of spiritual growth!
Apply: How have you grown or not grown spiritually the last year? What helped? What hindered this process?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the encouragement to grow, the resources to grow, and the promise to bless our growth in you! AMEN.