A CALL TO DIE BOOK - Day 20

DAY 20: GROW UP
This Muslim had a full clip. He asked with a smile, “Would you like
me quote the book of Romans for you?”I don’t know how the other
Christian guy felt, but I f` ashamed. After a while, I’d had enough.
I called for a cab. I h’ come to the harsh reality in front of my new
bride that I was “ spiritual illiterate. It was time for me to grow up in my
Biblical knowledge.
The writer to the Hebrews told his readers it was time for them to grow
up. That wasn’t a very pleasant message, but . was a necessary one.
On that afternoon in London. I needed to hear it. Maybe you need
to hear it, too. Imagine having a great Christian teacher sit down with
you and look you in the eyes, and say, “Friend, I’d like to teach you a
lot more, but you just aren’t ready for it. I want to give you meat, but
you are a spiritual baby.
Yes, I know you’ve been a Christian for a while, but you haven’t
grown. You’re still a baby in the faith. Instead of always being fed, you
should be giving out truth and grace to other people. In fact, you’ve
forgotten what I taught you before. You need to hear the basics again
to get it right.”
How would you feel if a Bible teacher you respected said that to you?
Yeah, I know how you feel. That’s exactly how I felt that day in London.
If you’ve been a Christian more than a year or so, you ought to be
imparting God’s word to others, not stuck dealing with childish things.
If you’ve been a believer for a while, he issues you should be dealing
with are things like: how to teach the Scriptures more effectively, how
to serve better, how many people to take to camp or a retreat, and
how to become more intimate with Jesus. The issue is not if you study
the Bible but what advanced Bible study methods are most effective
for you.
One of the things that demonstrates how far we’ve come is how we
respond to sin. Those who are stuck as infant Christians get as close to
sin as they can, or they dive right in. God’s holiness judges the sin of
the world-and the sin in your life and my life. Yes, we’re forgiven, but
God still hates the sin in our lives.
Do we hate it? If we do, it will break our hearts when we sin, and we’ll
be incredibly grateful when we experience his forgiveness. e loves us
even when we are still infant Christians, but he doesn’t want us to stay
that way. Peter tells us there is a primary reason why people fail to
grow spiritually. Peter lists characteristics of people who are growing
spiritually, then he writes:
“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep
you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
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