Monday, October 16, 2023

Listen to the Word

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:13)

This week we will dive into a crucial idea presented in Ephesians 4:13 – God’s goal for us is spiritual maturity. He doesn’t want us to be spiritual infants. He wants us to be stable, rooted, grown-up.

Imagine some parents who welcome home a new baby. Imagine them saying, “If this child never grows, that will be ok. Think of all the money we would save on clothes. All that matters is that she was born.” No parent would be satisfied with that! Neither is God. He wants to see all of his children reach spiritual maturity. He not only wants us to be born again – he wants us to reach spiritual adulthood.

Spiritual maturity is generally NOT our goal. We aren’t sure it is possible to grow into everything God wants us to be – and we aren’t sure it would be desirable. We don’t want to go over the edge. We want to be Christian enough to be respectable, but we don’t want to be fanatics. Honestly, sometimes we want just enough of Jesus to keep us out of hell – just a teaspoon, please – when he wants to fill us. We act like spiritual maturity is something optional, for super-committed, Olympic quality Christians. But God says it is his goal for all of us. It is not just something we can pursue for extra credit – it is a basic expectation.

Live the Word

Tell God you don’t want to be satisfied with just a small dose of him – you want the full treatment.