Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head; that is, Christ.  Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV

When we use the word, “grow up”, it tends to have a negative connotation.  We think of growing up as finishing school, getting jobs, paying bills, getting married, raising kids.  Growing up involves hard work.  I think back to when I was a child in my parent’s home.  I couldn’t wait to grow up.  I couldn’t wait to be able to drive.  Then I couldn’t wait to get a full-time job.  I couldn’t wait to get my own place.  Oh what I would give to go back to being that kid in mom and dad’s house.  A time when life was so much simpler and my responsibilities were few.  But that’s not how life works.

Just the other day, I purchased a “big kid” car seat for my six year old niece.  She was so excited the other day when I brought her home in her new “big girl” car seat.  She said that it was so awesome.  When I went to get her out of the car she told me that it made her feel like such a big girl, she said it even made her feel like she was seven years old!  Now purchasing that car seat almost brought tears to my eyes.  You see when she was three weeks old, she became gravely ill and the doctors did not think she would survive the night.  This was December 23, 2011.  They told us that if she survived she would be severely neurologically damaged.  But God had other plans for her.  She came through that and is a very intelligent little girl.  I know I am biased, but you don’t have to take my word for it.  Just ask anyone who knows her.  Anyway, purchasing this “big girl” car seat is something I struggled with.  It means that she is growing up.  I am so grateful to God for giving us this chance to watch her grow up, but someday all we will have is memories of that little girl.  If God is willing, she is going to grow to an adult, finish school, maybe get married and have kids of her own.  Last year I watched her graduate from kindergarten and it seems like just yesterday she was that three week old baby in the pediatric ICU.

But we all have to grow up.  If live things don’t grow then we know that there is something seriously wrong with them.  If a plant doesn’t grow, it will probably die.  If a puppy doesn’t grow, we should be really worried.  If kids don’t grow then we have a serious problem. Living beings are meant to grow. So my question today is, are you growing spiritually?

It’s so easy to have your spiritual growth stunted.  Have you gotten baptized and checked that off your bucket list and moved on?  I am amazed to see people get baptized and then never return to church.  That’s like being born and not growing at all.  Gathering with Christian believers and studying the Bible and praying is how we grow.  In this scripture passage, Paul is talking about the body of believers.  He is talking about the importance of unity among believers.  We are not meant to be saved and go off on some island somewhere.  We are meant to grow by joining with other believers.  We are meant to mature to a point where we can lead others to Christ.

When we are infants, we are tossed about.  We are naïve and easily taken advantage of by evil people who scheme against us.  However, as we speak the truth in Christ we mature as Christians.  Verse 16 says “From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work”.  It’s time to grow up and get to work.

You may have heard it said that if you do something you love for a living, you will never work a day in your life.  I have been blessed to work at jobs that I dearly loved.  Even though they were stressful, I loved the jobs and was blessed to have awesome supervisors and managers.  I also love the work I do for Christ.  When you step out and do what God is calling you to do, you will be filled with joy.  So if you want to love what you do, do what God is calling you to do.  But God doesn’t call baby Christians to work. He calls mature Christians.  So you have to grow up before God calls you to work for Him.  So join with other believers.  Spend time reading the Bible and praying. The peace and joy that come from doing what God is calling you to do is phenomenal.  So grow up and get busy!

Have a great weekend!