Maturity

1 Peter 2:2-3 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

I have really struggled over the last month with getting up early and getting my alone time with God. The hectic pace of the cooling business, coupled with the rest of my life is taking it’s toll on me; I have found it hard to get out of bed. Yesterday I took a day off and got rest. This morning I felt God stirring in me early, and even felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me the book of 1st Peter. I came out here and prayed for God to reveal to me himself, and behold he did. I came to where Peter was encouraging the brethren to genuinely have love for one another, and to genuinely love God’s Word. Peter shares the gospel and how we are “born again” with our faith in Jesus Christ. This is one of the few times that phrase is used in the New Testament.

Peter writes for us to seek God in his Word so that we may grow through his Word. I wrote in this weekend’s sermon how we must at some point mature as Christians. Have you? Are you spending time in God’s Word to mature? That is where you mature; that is your spiritual food for spiritual growth. The answer to the maturity question is found in relation to your time spent in God’s Word. Let me be more specific; if you are not reading his Word every day you are still a child. The good news of Jesus Christ is so simple a child may understand, but you are also called to grow in your faith and be able to teach to others; to become a disciple yourself.

The deeper you go into God’s Word the more he reveals himself to you. Knowledge of God is not found through wisdom gained in study, it is found through revelation while in study. The revelation is of God himself to you; it is an experience of God while in his Word, and it is something that you will begin to earnestly desire. The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Paul had just written about a life dedicated to Christ; Paul had just written about living a life focused on the next life; this is the work God does in the heart of a person who seeks to grow in their faith through his Word.