When I Grow Up

As children, we expressed the grand vision for our lives with the words, "When I grow up ." You would then fill in the blank with the audacious dream of an ambitious 8-year-old.

At various points in my childhood, I filled in the "When I grow up" blank with dreams such as: drive a garbage truck, play in the NBA, and be an astronaut. As far as the NBA goes, I would have made it if it were not for my average height and athletic ability, poor shooting skills, and limited vertical leap. My NBA dreams were shattered in the 8th grade when I didn't make the cut for the middle school team. I know what you're probably thinking. Michael Jordan was also cut from his 8th-grade team. I was so close.

And still, neither the sanitation department nor NASA has offered me a job. Maybe one day.

Chances are that your childhood, "When I grow up _" dreams did not come to fruition either. That's not a failure. The important thing is that you were expressing your intentions to grow up. You planned on becoming an adult. You had no plans to remain a child.

So what about your Christian life? What's your "grow up" plan?

Jesus described entering into a relationship with Him as being "born again (John 3:3)." The new birth is necessary for salvation, but babies grow up.

Jesus said that to enter His Kingdom that we need faith like a child (Matthew 18:1-6). He said you need a child-like faith, not a childish one (1 Corinthians 13:11).

God inspired the author of the Bible's book of Hebrews to send a stern message to a group of childish Christians. His message? It's time to grow up.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

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. And this we will do if God permits.

Hebrews 5:11-6:3

What's your "Christian grow up plan?" Is there a steadily increasing diet of the deeper things of God? Are you learning to pray or just repeating yourself? In preaching, are you a passive hearer or an active learner? The answers to these questions are reflections of your "grow up" plan.

God doesn't want us to just show up. He expects us to grow up.

Bible Study

Read Hebrews 5:11-6:12.

• Are there any commands to obey? List them.
• Make a list of any promises in the passage we are to believe.
• How are the principles in the passage to be applied?

Challenge

Hebrews 6:14 mentions the "powers of discernment." Use a reliable Bible Study website such as BibleStudyTools.com and study the idea of discernment in Scripture. Use the various tools the website has to offer such as dictionaries, lexicons, and parallel translations. Familiarize yourself with all that is available for your study. List 5 ideas you learned about discernment in your research.

Read a previous series of posts on forgiveness and restoration.

• The Kryptonite of Joy
• Taking Personal Responsibility for Sin
• Confession That's Too Casual
• Willingness, The Process of Forgiveness
• Deaf Doesn't Know It