:: To Worship Him ::

The Word of God tells us that “We are to grow up in all aspects into Him.” Ephesians 4:15 And in Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free.” We are “to grow into maturity, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13 When we think of Christian maturity, we think of fruitfulness; displaying the characteristics of Christ. The Lord didn’t abandon us and then tell us to grow up. No, “He has given us everything we need to grow to maturity in Christ.” (2 Peter 1:3) The three main reasons that we fail to grow into maturity is (1) the ‘evil one’ that is opposed to our growth. He will go the limit to keep us from realizing who we are, and, (2) knowledge of our inheritance in Christ. We must break free from his strongholds to fully mature. The other major reason is (3) our lethargy. Too many are satisfied with status quo, never growing beyond salvation. You remember the famous and familiar Mother Goose rhyme that goes like this:

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you been?
I’ve been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.

You may say, what on earth does that have to do with maturity? A lot. Like Pussy Cat, Christians often settle for petty involvements, trivial pursuits…chasing mice…ridiculous conflicts….etc…..when we have the opportunity to spend time with royalty, with the King of Kings. Instead of remaining content with minimum daily requirements, with some dedication and determination we can deepen our relationship with God and grow into maturity.

Secondly, we can walk in the freedom that Christ has provided for us. Before we received Christ, we were slaves to sin. Because of the Lord’s work on the cross, sin’s power over us has been broken. Satan no longer has title deed to us. He is defeated and must remain so. As long as he can lie to us and we believe him, he is in control. Once we break free, then we can walk in freedom. Phillips Brooks said that “No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude. There is no such thing as an entirely free man conceivable.” That is true, I believe. We will either serve ourselves, the evil one or God. True freedom only comes when we are FREE IN CHRIST! And, true spiritual freedom and maturity only comes when we are walking in the liberty that Jesus Christ paid for! Lord, help us to walk in Your freedom!

When we think of a garden, we think of preparing soil, planting seeds, watering those seeds and keeping the garden free from weeds so that those precious seeds can grow. We can spend as much time as we want preparing the soil, and that is necessary, but we won’t have a garden until we plant the seeds. Seeds will not produce unless they are planted. The same is true with the Word of God. The Word will not produce results unless it is planted.

Jesus gives us a parable about the seed. In the Book of Matthew 13:3, Mark 4:3, and Luke 8:11, we learn that the seed spoken about here is the Word of God. Jesus was using the natural truth to explain a spiritual truth. He was saying that the person who sows seed into their heart will produce a crop. We learn as well that the Word is powerless unless it is planted. We can own a Bible, in fact we can own hundreds, carry one around, sleep with one under our pillow, but that is no guarantee that the Word has been planted in our hearts. We must not only plant the seeds, but we must water the seeds as well.

The greatest way for the Word to be planted in our hearts is:

1. By the preaching of the Word.
2. By reading, meditating, and feeding on the Word.
3. By watering the seeds. Jesus said that the seed that was planted on stony ground did not produce because it lacked moisture. Moisture comes about through meditation on the Word. We need to have the Word foremost in our minds. Meditation means to ponder on, mull over, chew on. Psalm 119 gives great insight into how we should receive and treat the Word. Verse 16 says, “I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy Word.” We must allow the Word of God to bring forth the maximum harvest in our gardens. This brings glory to the Father.

There is an ancient fable that tell of three merchants crossing the Arabian Desert. Traveling in darkness to avoid the intense heat one starless night, they were passing over a dry creek bed when a voice from the darkness commanded them to halt. They were then ordered to stoop, pick up pebbles from the creek bed and put them in their pockets. After obeying the strange command, they were told to leave that place and travel a good distance from there. The mysterious voice then told them that in the morning they would be both happy and sad. Shaken and confused, and obeying the mysterious intruder, they traveled through the night.

When morning came, the men anxiously looked into their pockets, and rather than finding the pebbles as expected, there were precious jewels. They indeed were happy and sad. They were happy they had picked up the jewels, but sad because while they had the opportunity they had not picked up many more. This legend illustrates how many feel about the unreachable riches of God’s Word. We are thrilled we have absorbed as much as we have, but sad because we have not absorbed much more. The greater the absorption, the greater the harvest. Let us not waste the precious opportunity.