Growth, and maturity!

Two, totally unrelated, matters from this morning. First of all, our younger daughter contacted my wife to inform us that one of her former flat-mates had just given birth to a beautiful daughter - and that the baby was to be named after our daughter!

The second was in my personal devotions during which, at present, I am reading through the Book of Psalms. This morning I was reading in Psalm 120, and also noting the comments made by Warren Wiersbe - currently my favourite contemporary Bible Commentator.

Ps.120 is the first of a group of psalms - 120 - 134 - known collectively as the Pilgrim Psalms, as it is believed that they were sung by those making their way to Jerusalem for one of the major feasts of Judaism. This would have been an arduous journey, made on foot, climbing up to the Holy City after maybe weeks of travelling from whichever part of the Roman world they now knew as home.

In his general introduction to the group, Dr.Wiersbe writes, concerning current disciples of Jesus: "Too many believers today want to be 'settlers', not pilgrims and strangers (Heb.11:8-10, 13-196; I Pet.1:1, 2:11). We are happy enough to settle down in our comfort zones and live as though Jesus never died, Jesus is not coming again, and our lives will never end. We are guilty of what Eugene Peterson calls 'the tourist mindset', content to make occasional brief visits with the Lord that are leisurely and entertaining, all the while conforming to this world and enjoying it. (See A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, IVP, p.12). Our citizenship is in heaven (Luke 10:20; Phil.3:20; Heb.12:22-24), and that should make a difference in our lives on earth. We need to 'feel temporary' as we make this pilgrim journey called life."

So what is the connection between the birth of a baby, and Dr Wiersbe's comment? We received a photograph of the newborn child, lying peacefully as a newborn child tends to do. She will be fed and clothed by her mother (with, I would expect, assistance from her husband, the baby's father). She will 'Goo', and 'Ga', and everyone will say how cute she is.

However, imagine if, in ten years' time, that child was still lying in a cot; still being clothed and fed (and having nappies changed) by her parents; still able to make no other sound than 'Goo' and 'Ga'! That would no longer be a cause for great joy; that child would no longer be cute; that would be considered, by most, to be a tragedy. The beautiful baby that had failed to grow.

That, of course, is exactly what Warren Wiersbe is referring to in the life of a disciple of Jesus. It is, sadly, all too common for people to be born again of God the Holy Spirit; to have repented of their sins and sinfulness; to have received the new life that is available through faith in the Lord Jesus, the Christ; to have been baptised; to have become members of a particular fellowship of God's people - but never to have grown spiritually; to still be spiritual infants, dependent upon others to feed them in the things of God; unable to walk the walk of faith in a meaningful, and challenging,way. They are immature; their witness is compromised; they blow hot, and cold.

In a couple of weeks' time, I expect to be preaching on the power of the totally surrendered life - the life that is fully committed to Jesus. However, there is no power in a baby. It is at the mercy of its own environment - although, thankfully, that environment is usually provided by loving parents. Someone once said, concerning disciples of Jesus, that there are three types of Christian. There are third-class Christians, in whose lives Jesus is present. That is good. Then there are second-class Christians, in whose lives Jesus is prominent. That is better. Finally, there are first-class Christians, in whose lives Jesus is pre-eminent. That is best of all.

So, where do you fit in? Are you a spiritual babe; a third-class Christian? Or are you soaking yourself in the written Word; spending time in prayer to the heavenly Father; and showing, in your daily living, that Jesus is pre-eminent in your life? Do you have that 'tourist mindset'; or are you "... look[ing] forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Heb.11:10), that is "... eternal in the heavens." (II Cor.5:1)?