Living Daily What Matters Most Day 3

 Doing what God designed us to do under His direction in every season of our life gives our lives balance, margin and vitality.

GROWING
 Spiritual Maturity is never an end in itself. We grow up to give out.

Colossians 2:7 Let your roots grow down deep in Him and draw nourishment from Him so you will grow in faith , strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done.

Ephesians 4: 14-15 Then we will no longer be like children forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone told us something different or someone lied to us and made it sound like truth. Instead we will hold to the truth in love becoming more and more like Christ in every way...

Grow and keep growing. We don't have to give those kinds of instructions to a baby. I have seen our newest grandbaby twice and I know that the next time I see him he is going to look different than he did the last time because he is doing exactly what he was intended to do. Grow! And all of us keep growing. We grow up, we grow out (unfortunately sometimes! lol) and we, sadly grow old. But no one has to tell us to do what our bodies were designed to do: grow.

Why is it then we think that once we have accepted the Christian Faith, made that decision to follow Christ, that we have arrived? That I have Jesus in my heart and that's it! I know far too many baby Christians who are still exactly where they were years ago when they decided to follow Christ. there has been no on-going cultivating of the faith, no blossoming or producing fruit. Just a slender reed coming up out of the soil and in desperate need of Sonshine to help it grow strong.

Ah, but my life has been blessed with the presence of many mighty oaks of the faith! People who soak up every drop of Son-shine they can find, always, always, seeking more to help them grow.

That is what I want to be. I want to be a Mighty Oak, whose roots go down so deep and thick and strong, so rooted that nothing can shake me off my foundation, which is Jesus Christ. I might shake and bend and loose some branches but I will still be standing even after the storm.

but there is more to this than just bible study. Its great to dig in and know God and know of God but that knowledge was meant to be shared. The spiritual maturity I seek after wasn't meant to be hoarded up but to be poured out!

We went black berry picking last night. We know several spots where the thicket is wicked but the berries are beautiful. it's worth the hard work to get to them. It made me think about this concept of growing to give. What good is a tree (or a blackberry bramble) that grows and yields fruit that just falls on the ground or rots on the vine? The fruit was meant to be shared, to provide food for others. My blackberries will be made into jam that we will enjoy for months to come and undoubtedly will be shared with a few others as well. That is how it should be, no?

God wants us to KNOW Him, and His Word. God wants us to LOVE Him and share that love and God wants us to GROW in Him and give out. Not up. Out. Grow in both knowledge and love in order to both grow up and give out. it should never end.

Rick Warren writes in his book The Purpose Driven Life, :Jesus taught that spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more. We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation.

Ah, there it is.... spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. We grow up to give out.