I was thinking today… about growing in God and what that means. As with anything, in order to grow we need to spend time studying, learning, being around others who are also studying and/or teaching etc. When it comes to God and our relationship with Him, we need to be aware that in order to really grow we will need to make the effort to do all of the above and to also be active as well.

We cannot always just learn but never do anything with it. Yes, we will always be learning but at the same time in order to grow we have to – go and do – as well. The disciples learned from Jesus while they were also active in their mission. They learned not only from listening to His teachings but walking with Him and serving and seeing how it’s done. Like a new job, someone can tell you how to do something but until you actually do it yourself you don’t fully realize how to do it. You make mistakes and that’s how you learn what to do and what not to do.

Keep in mind that being active in serving and teaching about God and Jesus is not just for pastors, teachers or people on staff at a church. It is for all of us! Don’t be afraid of where God may be leading you. He may lead you to change jobs, move to another state, or even to a different church. It’s okay. He has a plan for you to be fruitful in His service and sometimes that means making changes and sometimes it means staying where you are. The most important thing is to always ask for His guidance and direction. Trust Him to make it clear to you and He will. Growing in God is not easy, but it is necessary.

(Colossians 1:9-12) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

(Colossians 2:6-7) So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

(Psalm 92:12-15) The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

To God be the Glory,

Lynn Manucci Warrick