Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 6, 2015
Guest Writer: Meet my son-in-law Tripp Prince. We are blessed to have him as our guest writer.
Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 1 Corinthians 14:20
By historic standards, we are one of the most literate and educated societies to ever exist. What began with the printing press has now in many ways reached its culmination with the Internet. Knowledge and information is freely shared and instantly distributed across the world to rich and poor, young and old alike. This shift has affected virtually every area of society, and Christianity is certainly not immune. Not only do most of us have multiple hardbound copies of the Bible in our homes, we now carry in our pockets dozens of translations, commentaries, and devotional books, all a few simple clicks or swipes away.
Yet, has this exponential increase in Christian knowledge translated into genuine growth in Christ?
If we limit our understanding of the Christian faith to head knowledge about God and divorce it from Christian living, we will trick ourselves into thinking that we are spiritually mature while in reality we remain spiritual infants! It is entirely possible to know a great deal about God and yet be entirely unsure of how to live as a Christian. Put another way, it is one thing to know about Jesus, but it is something altogether different to be transformed by his love. As C.S. Lewis once said, “it is fatally easy to confuse an appreciation of the spiritual life with the life itself.”
“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).
The author of Hebrews reminds us of an essential aspect of Christian living: growth in Christ is not instantaneous but a lifelong process of dying to self and being remade in the image of Christ. If you struggle in your walk with Christ, let these words be an encouragement to you! You aren’t expected to “get it right” overnight. Genuine growth in Christ isn’t a one-week workout class but is more like months and months of training for a long distance race.
When you go out of your way to love and serve your spouse, when you express genuine interest in the things your kids are passionate about, when you are transparent and vulnerable with a close group of trusted friends about your struggles and challenges in life, you are embracing daily practices that over time become life-long habits of holy, virtuous living. It is here in the lived experience of our Christian faith that we move from mere knowledge about God to a genuine encounter of the living God, from spiritual infancy to maturity in Christ.
Prayer: Father, may we never content ourselves with spiritual infancy but daily submit to your Spirit’s guidance as you lead us into true maturity in Christ.
Related Readings: Luke 8:14; Ephesians 4:13; Philippians 3:15; Colossians 1:28
Post/Tweet this today: Growth in Christ is a lifelong process of dying to self and being remade in the image of Christ. #matureinChrist #wisdomhunters
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I am continualy amazed at how this daily applies to my questions to the Lord all the time. We live in an instant gratification world and I am just as guilty of wanting my walk to be instantly changed to reflect what God wants me to be. I get tremendous guilt when I fail in my walk yet I know that I’m forgiven and the guilt comes from the deciver. I have recently reflected on the last year and a half sence I have come back to walking with the Lord and I see the change in and around me and wonder whats taking so long to learn to be what God wants me to be. In prayer I’ve been told many times I must crawl before I walk and walk before I run. Praise and glory to God, his patiants for me is so great and He does not stop showing me new things that I’ve read numorus times before. Thank you for your daily insperations and God bless you and your Ministry.
Dear Jon,
Thank you for your kind words about the devotional, “Mature in Christ”. We are thankful to have Tripp Prince as a guest writer for Wisdom Hunters. His words in this devotional “pulled at the heartstrings” of many in the wisdom hunter’s family (including me).
“Put another way, it is one thing to know about Jesus, but it is altogether different to be transformed by His love. As C.S. Lewis once said, ‘it is fatally easy to confuse an appreciation of the spiritual life with the life itself’.” Goodness, the phrase “fatally easy” really emphasizes the importance, doesn’t it?
Jon, I have to tell you, I read your comments over and over because your sincerity and truth about your walk and the lessons God is teaching you along the way are such a valuable lesson for all of us. Your statement about feeling guilt when you aren’t “instantly changed” speaks volumes about many of us and our impatience! And you are so right- we do know who the giver of that guilt is!
Thank you Jon, for putting into words what many of us struggle with at times. May we all remember to “crawl before we walk and walk before we run”.
Grateful for you, Jon, and looking forward to hearing from you again soon.
Believing and trusting~
Gwynne
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10