"Still Growing"

                                            
"I have hid your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you."  Psalm 119:11

The other morning I was shaving and my seven year old, Chandler, was watching me intently.  He said, "Dad, I am going to have to start shaving pretty soon because I am growing up fast and I already have some hair on my face."  I told him I knew that he was growing up quickly.  He was very excited about the reality of his maturing and the pontential of facial hair.  Of course, I was thinking to myself, shaving every day is not all that young men think it is.  But that thought was overshadowed by the concern of not wanting to see my little man grow up too quickly.  I wanted to tell him that growing  up is a process and that he won't be shaving a soon as he thinks  but I chose to let his boyhood fantasizing continue.

Why is it that when we are young we wish we could grow up faster and when we are older we desire to find a way to make time slow down so we can grow slower, (perhaps in more ways than one)? 

As I thought about the conversation with my youngest son, I thought about how true that this is with our Christian growth.  Sometimes it seems that we forget growing up in the things of Christ is a process.  None of us experience instant maturity, although many of us think that we would like too.  God uses everything in our lives to contribute to our growing up in Him.  Circumstances that we would wish to avoid.  People that rub us wrong.  Set backs and struggles.  Schools, jobs, churches, athletics, the arts, even our hobbies and extra curricular activities can all contribute to our growth as followers of Christ.

As I continue to mature in the Lord I am continually asking God to help me to not despise the process.  Sometimes I would wish for instant maturity, but it never works that way!!  There are some things that we learn by experience.  Some things we learn through books and studies about God's Word.  We learn from other followers of Christ.  We learn in small groups, in large groups and even when we are all alone.  We are continually learning as children of God. 

  

I don't know how soon Chandler will actually be shaving because everyone's growth is different.  To me, the important thing is not WHEN will Chandler shave, but the understanding that someday HE WILL be shaving.  With that in mind, let me encourage all of us that it is not so important how fast we grow in the Lord, but the importance that we ALL should be growing!  Let me close this blog with a couple of questions:  What are you doing, intentionally, to contribute to your growth in the Lord today?  What are you doing to grow in the things of the Lord as fathers and sons?

ACTIVITY FOR THE WEEK:

Find a book to read together that will help you to grow in your understanding of God.   A book that I have been reading with my boys is by C.J. Mahaney and is entitled "The Cross Centered Life".  It is an easy read and is helping us all to grow closer together and closer to God.   All of three of my boys and myself are enjoying the readings.