Greg's Comment
One of the limitations of our Blog 10:24 is that comments are not emailed out like the original posts. Greg in Washington added this the other day and I managed to overlook it until tonight. It is thought provoking to me so I thought I would duplicate the post -- and encourage you to think this over for yourself. Greg, thanks for taking the time to start this thread. Hope all is well out in the Northwest! Cordially, Eric
I have had a passage on my mind the past few days, from Hebrews chapter 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ...With the main thought being: 'How long should it take...'? How long should it take for a Christian to be able to pray on his own; to get answers to his own prayers; to hear the still small voice of the Lord; to be able to lead others to Christ; to pray for a healing; to no longer be shaken by hearing an Atheist, or someone opposed to your beliefs; to overcome strong temptation, to be able to teach others; to be able to forsake all to follow Him - even if it means family or job; to be a martyr?How long should it take? Certainly it differs with everyone and we should make no rules, but Paul here was lamenting the fact that 'For by this time you ought to be teachers...' which indicates that he considered his readers to have been Christians sufficiently long enough to get at least to that point. So I ask myself: How long should it take for me? Where am I on my path of growth? Certainly I have reached many of the steps above, but what is next? Where will I be next year at this time, and will I still be growing? What is the path of growth? There are lots of steps I haven't mentioned, and probably haven't thought of. How similar is the path for others? So I thought I would throw this out to the group for comment.Gregg (in Washington)
posted by Eric @ 10:33 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I love thought provoking questions like yours, Greg.
I try to find encouragment in even the smallest measure of spiritual growth. God's word makes it plain that if we aren't growing we are dying. His creation even bears this out. Consider a stalk of corn. Once the plant stops drawing moisture and nutrients from the earth it is in the process of dying. Biblically, God wants us to die to ourselves so He can produce fruit through us. This is a different kind of death however. The death we should be concerned about is premature death which bears no fruit at all. A life wasted if you will. Back to the stalk of corn. There is no greater disappointment than seeing a field of corn that has no grain because of premature death due to drought or nutrient depletion. On the other hand, the sight of a dead field of corn with large ears of grain brings much rejoicing. Praise God for any growth in our relationship with Christ.
Steve
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