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Birthday parties are good.
So are cake, ice cream, pink ponies, and our very own fort in the branches of a sturdy tree.
Childhood is a time of innocence, one where our parents never let the boogie man get us, and we can sleep with the assurance that there’s no problem too big for our father and mother to handle.
We can’t remain children forever. Kids grow up. That’s what they do.
We come to Christ as small children, and the simplicity of the gospel is like cake and ice cream to us. We ride our pink ponies and make our plans for conquest in our leafy tree fort, looking down on everyone around us.
We like being spiritual children. Yet, Hebrews 6:1-2 tells us it’s time to move on:
“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”
We need to get out of our baby bed, toss out our training pants, and shuck the extra wheels off our bike. Cake is nice, but moving forward into adulthood is what we’re born to do.
James 1:27 puts maturity in our sights:
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
In other words, we need to put the needs of others before ourselves. Search out those who are in need of financial help, emotional support, and spiritual guidance. Reach out to them, showing them the Christ who lives in us.
Hebrews 13:16 reminds us that we break the ice with the needy using our pocketbooks:
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
The hurting in the world trust us when we put our money where our mouth is. If we say we love, and we walk on by, we are still spiritual children, riding our pink ponies, out only to please ourselves. Lay out the cash, and our true heart is revealed in the sacrifice we make to better the lives of our fellow men.
As long as our Christian walk is all about us, we haven’t “got it” yet. When it becomes about those at our side, we’ve reached maturity in Jesus Christ.
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Code: FGO.I.02.16a.vp.esv