September 5, 2019 (Thursday)
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).
Peter wrote to encourage believers who faced persecution. He offered encouraging words to them in his brief letters. He urged them to grow as Christians so that they might be strong enough to go through the trials and withstand the temptations.
Last week I uncovered an old photograph that included a tree in the scene. Today I used Google Earth to find that tree again, 65 years later. The tree has grown. It needed all the help we could give it; we watered it during the drought years of the 1950s, and today it is a huge tree, obviously at least 65 years older than it was in the previous picture.
Growth is normal. Growth is the normal state of living things. We grow physically. We should also grow spiritually. That was Peter’s message in the verse quoted above.
I’ve kept up with my weight, but I lost track of my height. When I went to a medical facility last week to get a test, the lady measured my height. My height has been on my drivers’ licenses since I was a young person. The last measurement was 5′ 8 1/4″. Last week it was 5′ 5″ or something like that. When she told me that much I couldn’t hear the exact measurement. It just hit me between the eyes that I am now more than 3 inches shorter than I used to be. As I understand the situation, that’s perfectly normal, but I was still shocked when told. Would you be shocked to learn you have not only failed to grow in Christ but lost some ground in your spiritual life?
I used to hold my sons and grandsons in my arms, but I cannot do that any more, because they have grown, just like they are meant to do. They could probably hold me in their arms these days. Growth is normal. (Of course, old age is a blessing but it is normal to lose height as aging progresses). It is never normal, however, to stop growing spiritually.
Just as Peter urged the believers to grow in the Lord, so Paul chided some believers because they were not growing. They were still on a diet of milk instead of meat. It is not normal for a Christian to stay the same, or regress, instead of growing.
Are you growing spiritually? I sincerely hope you are, because spiritual growth is the source of Christian joy.