The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “that we should no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting...” (Eph. 4:14).
When a small baby comes into the world, he is a helpless
infant. He’s got a lot of growing to do. If he doesn’t grow,
he dies. The same is true until he is full grown. Babies
weren’t born to remain babies. Children aren’t meant to
remain children. The same is true with a babe in Christ.
God expects them to grow up in the Lord. This is why Peter
wrote, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).
If God expects us to grow up, how is that done?
One way is by coming to the services and hearing the gospel
preached on a regular basis. Earlier, in Ephesians chapter 4,
we are told that God gave some to be evangelists in the
church (Eph. 4:11). The purpose for these in the church is
given in the passage quoted above (Eph. 4:14). The work of
an evangelist serves to cause babes in Christ to grow up and
mature. When hearing sermons, one is being fed spiritual
food. He is being nourished spiritually. Missing services
regularly is as damaging to the soul as missing meals
regularly is to the physical body. Come to the services so
you can grow up! (Heb. 10:25).
Another way to grow up is to do personal study of
the word of God every day. You should delight in God’s
saving message. Paul wrote, “Study to shew thyself
approved unto God...” (2 Tim. 2:15). As babes, we can
only handle the milk at first. But we should drink enough of
it until we can begin to handle some meat and then grow
further from there. This is the entire point of Hebrews
5:12-6:8. How much time do you spend reading and
studying God’s word every day? The church has too many
“old children.” It’s time we got busy with the word of God!
Another way we grow is by practicing the word of
God. It doesn’t do any good to read and study God’s word
when we don’t put it into practice. Jesus compared the one
who only hears the word without doing it to a foolish man
who built his house on the sand (Matt. 7:24-27). James
wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves” (Jms. 1:22). Those who mature are
able to discern between good and evil. They do so by use of
“the word of righteousness” (Heb. 5:13,14). Do you put
God’s word into practice in your life? If not, Get busy!
There are too many Christians and too many
churches who are like ships in troubled waters being tossed
to and fro by every wind of doctrine. This can be cured if
people would faithfully attend services, study the word
regularly, and practice the word in their lives more
frequently. What about you? Are you progressing to the
state that you are no longer a child?
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