Let us grow in every
way into Him who is the head—Christ. Ephesians 4:15b (HCSB)
Harold sat alone in his secret
hideout. He wished he could have been out playing with his friends
but after his tantrum the last several weeks, he wasn't sure he even
had any left. Not even Barney, who had been his best friend was
talking to him. So he just sat in his secret hideout and stared at
the ground.
As he sat there he thought he started
making a list of all the things he could hear. There was the light
drip drip of water left over from a shower earlier in the day, There
was the sound of geese flying high over head. An occasional Chickadee
would call out. There was the scurry of a mouse in the leaves in the
corner of his hide out and there was what sounded like the whimper of
a small puppy.
Soon enough, Harold's curiosity got to
him and he got up off the floor and started scrounging around looking
for the source of the whimpering. And soon enough, he found what
looked like a picnic basket that was wiggling around. Carefully
opening the lid, Harold looked inside and too his delight, he found a
little tiny puppy.
“Hi there, young fella.” Harold
said as he carefully picked the puppy up. “Don't you have any
friends either?” With a smile on his face, the puppy started
licking Harold's nose and that made Harold start giggling. “At
least you're happy to see me!” he said, “Do you live around
here?” Harold asked the puppy but the puppy just kept trying to
lick Harold's nose.
Carefully, Harold put the puppy back
on the ground. “Now that I've let you out of that basket you should
go on home.” Harold told the puppy, “And I should be going home
too.” But instead of going home like Harold thought the puppy would
do, it followed him.
When he got home, Harold's sister was
the first to comment on the puppy. “How cute!” she said “Who's
is he?” Harold just shrugged in response. When Harold went in the
house, the puppy scurried through the open door and started chewing
on one of Stella's dolls. “Maybe I can keep you.” Harold said out
loud when he saw the puppy chewing on Stella's doll.
“Keep what?” Harold's dad asked
and then he saw the puppy. “Can I? Can I?” Harold asked with
excitement, “He's not very big and he'll probably be a little
forever, and I'll take really good care of him. Can I? Can I?” “I
don't see why not.” Harold's dad responded “But, you do realize,
he won't be a baby puppy forever, he will grow up.”
With a big grin on his face, Harold
picked the puppy up and gave him a big hug. “You're my new best
friend.” he said, “And dad's wrong, you'll never grow up.”
Have you ever wished that someone or
something or maybe even yourself, never had to physically grow up.
Kind of like the lost boys in Never Land in the story of Peter Pan.
I know that as a parent I sometimes wish my little ones would stay
little. They haven't and I don't think Harold's puppy will either.
Of course some of us fail to grow up
mentally or emotionally or spiritually, etc. And sometimes its by
choice. Years ago Amy Grant sang a song called Fat Baby written by
Steve Miilikan and Rod Robinson that went like this:
I know a man, maybe you
know him, too. You never can tell; he might even be you.
He knelt at the altar, and
that was the end. He's saved, and that's all that matters to him.
His spiritual tummy, it
can't take too much. One day a week, he gets a spiritual lunch.
On Sunday, he puts on his
spiritual best, And gives his language a spiritual rest.
He's just a fat. He's just
a fat little baby! Wa, wa, waaaaa....
He wants his bottle, and
he don't mean maybe.
He sampled solid foods
once or twice, But he says doctrine leaves him cold as ice.
Ba, ba, ba, ba...ba,
ba...ba, ba!
He's been baptized,
sanctified, redeemed by the blood, But his daily devotions are stuck
in the mud.
He knows the books of the
Bible and John 3:16. He's got the biggest King James you've ever
seen!
I've always wondered if
he'll grow up someday. He's momma's boy, and he likes it that way.
If you happen to see him,
tell him I said, "He'll never grow, if he never gets fed."
In the book of Hebrews, the author had
to chew out his readers for their failure to grow up. - By now you
should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first
lessons of God’s message. You still need the teaching that is like
milk. You are not ready for solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is
still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching.
Hebrews 5:12-13 (NCV)
Likewise, Paul as he wrote to those at
Corinth growing up as well.
- 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 - Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people without the Spirit—babies in Christ. The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food, because you were not able to take solid food. And even now you are not ready. (NCV)
- 1 Corinthians 14:20 - Brothers and sisters, do not think like children. In evil things be like babies, but in your thinking you should be like adults. (NCV)
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 - When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. (NCV)
The bible reminds us to grow up, to
grow in....
- 2 Peter 3:18 - Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes! (MSG)
- Hebrews 6:1 - So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. (NLT)
- 1 Thessalonians 3:12 - And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. (NLT)
- Ephesians 4:15 - But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. (HCSB)
Here's Something To Ponder
- In what ways do you still act like a baby?
- In what way do you strive to grow?
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