Sunday Reflections - Growth

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, ... (Hebrews 6:1)

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)

I ran across a simple explanation for what it means to grow in our faith -- to grow in Christ -- intimacy, dependence, obedience.

Our first stage in our life with Christ is one of intimacy -- knowing and being known. It is the same intimacy with which a husband and wife know each other.

This is a wonderful, early stage when it's all new and incredible. However, if we stay in this stage then we're like newborn babies when God wants us to mature and in our maturity be of more use to Him.

The second growth stage is dependence -- learning to depend upon Christ for all that we are and all that we have. Our very being comes from our relationship with Jesus and we learn that all things belong to God. We are only stewards. This stage is similar to us becoming teenagers in our relationship with God.

Our maturity comes from the third stage -- obedience. Once we have an intimate relationship with Christ and we learn to depend on him for all things, God leads us into this stage of our spiritual life where we begin to obey his callings upon our life. If he says go, we go. If he says stay, we stay. Now we are useful to him and this is where He has been leading us all the days of our life.

As we grow from one stage to the next, we don't lose or leave the prior stage(s). Obedience is built upon dependence and they both need the foundation of intimacy.

Intimacy, dependence, obedience. We are to be fruit -- like a peach. At first we are just a bud, still intimate with the tree, but of no use yet. Then we are dependent upon the tree as we grow into a full-bodied peach. However, to fulfill our potential as a peach we must obey the calling to be picked at the fullness of our ripeness so we can provide sweetness and sustenance to someone else.