Focus: Grow Up!

Text: Eph.4:15

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

In Christ there's always room for more, and indeed room for growth. In Christ there is no law of diminishing returns, and I can tell for free, that in Christ, the higher you go, the cooler and sweeter the experience of knowing the Lord becomes. Restful faith is a function of divine encounter and knowledge of God.

A lot of God's people are suffering from arrested development. Their growth is sadly stalled. Their spiritual life is stale and has become stagnant. They fear more than they have faith. They believe less and doubt more. They are not making any real spiritual progress. Their consciousness of the presence of God is yet to deepen. Their fear for God is still minimal. They obey God only where it is convenient. It is important to know that spirituality cannot thrive on the soil of carnality.

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us about the developmental process or stages of growth. He says, "For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the BLADE, then the EAR, after that the FULL CORN in the ear" (Mk.4:28). 

Lively things grow; deadly or inanimate things don't grow. Nothing that is alive is ever static or fruitless.

God delights in the spiritual growth of His people. He wants us to grow up in Christ in all things. He wants us to abound in the grace of Christ. He wants us to deepen our spiritual roots and to grow fruits upwards. He wants us to grow in the knowledge of Christ. He wants us to advance from one level of glory to another. He wants our faith to grow exceedingly. He wants us to know the depth, height, breadth and length of the love of God. He wants us to be filled with all the fullness of Christ. He wants us to spread our tentacles and break into new spiritual frontiers. He wants us to possess our possessions and tap into our inheritance in Christ. He wants us to grow and glow.

Let's grow up in Christ IN ALL THINGS, not in few and some things, but in all things. There's no place where we are required to fall short. God doesn't want us to miss out on our God-given blessings.

Let's get closer to God, obey Him more passionately, do His bidding more urgently, and love Him more affectionately. Let's grow up!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter