Growth

Growth

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” 1 Pet. 2:1-3.

Imagine if every Christian had experienced such a radical conversion and continued in it. Then there would be quick growth and progress in all areas. We can only grow with respect to salvation by the pure, spiritual milk. Impure milk does not hold out any possibilities for growth. This can be noticed by the fact that even after several years [after their conversion] people still harbor some malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. James writes in Chapter 1:21-22: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

As a born-again person we have a distaste for even the slightest overflow of malice. We have tasted that the Lord is good, and we drink only from this good well, to our own joy and the joy of others. We grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 3:18. We forgive and forget; we grow and we flourish. We grow up to new and greater tasks. Life becomes rich and interesting.

God was not pleased with Israel. They sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play. 1 Cor. 10:7. They were without responsibility. We have probably heard the story of the father who said to his teenage son: “Son, soon you will be grown up. Then you will bear burdens and have responsibilities. Do not let the time pass you by with fun and games!” According to the time the Hebrews should have been teachers, but they were still babes in Christ. Their senses were not trained to discern between good and evil. Heb. 5:12-14. Superficiality and vain talk must be separated from that which is valuable.

The railroads employ switchmen. They have to be exact in their work; otherwise there will be train collisions, which can result in death and injury to many people. There is a great lack of spiritual switchmen. Young people have a great and valuable ministry in this area. Because of the many informal gatherings it is easy to get on the wrong track, and this can cause much harm. We can lead everything into the way of peace by having exercised senses.

In Psalm 144 we read, “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style; that our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce.”

We have a very large and glorious flock of young people among us. They have learned to discern between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the times. They are far advanced in their youth, and they already have a large store of God’s knowledge and wisdom. Nevertheless, there are also many who have not awakened to their high and holy calling, and precious time is passing them by. They bury their precious pound—their abilities and their strength—in the ground instead of increasing their pound in spiritual and eternal values. They are not among the wise who have abundant oil in their lamps and in their vessels, but they can be among them if they wake up, because the time hereafter is short.

In Judges 5:13-18 we read about a little flock that came down to the nobles and fought like warriors. Most people fight to get up in the world; they want to be visible in people’s eyes, but they will not come into fellowship with God’s nobles. There were those from among Zebulon who wielded the staff of office; they were a people who despised their lives even to the point of death. Among the divisions of Reuben there was a great resolve of heart, while others remained sitting among the sheepfolds to hear the piping for the flocks. Some took it easy and stayed by their ships, while Asher sat at the seashore and remained by its landings.

We can no longer sit quietly and waste our time with one thing or another while our precious time of grace is passing us by. We must take up a battle position together with that little flock that is going down. We are fighting against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, and in this battle we must be manly and strong—not strong in ourselves, but in the power that Christ gives to those who follow Him on the way of humiliation. He descended to the deepest depth, and He was exalted to the greatest height. Only in this spirit of humbling ourselves can we grow up to the measure of the fullness of manhood in Christ Jesus, up into Him who is our Head. Eph. 4:13-16.

There is a saying that “time is our life.” We don’t have to invent anything special; all we need to do is to walk in the works that God has prepared for us. Eph. 2:10. We need to be very diligent in our daily life to grow up in all the virtues of Christ. “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Read 2 Peter 1:5-11.