Today’s Daily Bread ~ “Look how big I am!”

1 Corinthians 3:1-3b – Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians.  I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life.  I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger.  And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires.  You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. 

My sweet, five year old daughter amuses me.  Not two weeks after her most recent birthday she started telling people she was five and a half.  The other day I had to calmly explain to my crying girl that she wouldn’t be six for a whole year…she had to be five for a while first.  It didn’t go over well.

She loves to dress up in my clothes.  She’ll smear my make-up on her face and teeter around in my heels.  “Look Mommy,” she’ll exclaim, “look how big I am!”

She is a sweetheart.  Just this morning she dressed herself, brushed her own teeth and made all the beds in the house “because,” she proudly boasted, “I’m big now!”

However, her true, five-year-old nature exposes itself when things don’t go her way.  Case in point: a ten minute tantrum when I denied her request to go to Sonic.  Another time: her chosen outfit for school.  I tend to shy away from that battle, but I put my foot down over her strawberry shortcake costume.  The result?  Another tantrum, as well as a declaration that I didn’t love her and had, in one fell swoop, “ruined” her life.

It is easy for Caitlyn to act “big” when things are going her way and all are playing nice.  Just as it’s very easy to “play Christian” when the waters are smooth.  It’s the waves and storms that expose our heart.

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.

Robert Morris pastors Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, and can be seen on the Daystar network.  He says that the path toward maturity is the same, spiritual or otherwise.  The first stage, according to Morris, is the “give me” stage.  We are born selfish, thinking that the universe revolves around us.  We remain selfish for some time.  New Christians are the same way – we even get saved for selfish reasons.  To avoid hell.  To receive blessings.  To claim His promises.

He deems the second phase the “use me” stage, but warns that this, too, originates from selfish motivations.  Giving out of surplus rather than sacrificially.  Volunteering when it suits you.  Seeking recognition when you do a good deed. Allow me to once again use my daughter as an example:

Me: Caitlyn, would you like some strawberries on your cereal?

Caitlyn:  No, thank you.

Me:  Alright, sweetheart.

Caitlyn:  Mommy!  You didn’t even notice that I said “No THANK YOU!”

Pastor Morris says we are on our way when we hit the “search me” stage.

Psalm 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

The Lord has been faithful to show me areas of weakness: seeking man’s approval over His; looking for affirmation before I “step out in faith,” even when I know it’s something God wants me to do.  He’s shown me areas that I’ve yet to entrust to Him, and areas where I’ve failed to represent Him. 

Hebrews 12:7-8 – As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children.  Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined?  If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children after all.

I love my children with all my heart and soul.  And it pleases me to give them things.  However, I cannot and will not reward their disobedience.  My job is to keep them safe while I have them, but prepare them to leave.  I demand good manners.  I don’t tolerate tantrums.  They can have a peaceful existence through obedience, or a troubled one by choosing their own way.  Just like us.

Hebrews 12:10-11 – For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.  But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in His holiness.  No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it is painful!  But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

The quiet harvest of right living.  There is no peace to be found while outside of God’s will for our lives.  There is fleeting, momentary happiness in worldly things, but they will never satisfy like Your Father does. 

The last stage is “make me.” Eddie Espinosa is the worship leader of Vineyard Church in Corona, California, and wrote a song called Change My Heart, O God:

Change my heart, O God;

Make it ever true

Change my heart, O God;

May I be like You.

We will never find true contentment without Him.  We will never achieve that level of trust and quiet certainty if we don’t step out of the boat.  We won’t live up to our full potential in Christ if we don’t invite Him to prune that which is not pleasing to Him.  Circumstances will continue to overwhelm us if we don’t let Him peel the scales from our eyes and give us a Heavenly perspective.

Psalm 91:1-2 – Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare of the LORD:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I am trusting Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, it’s difficult to ask You to search us.  We don’t want to know all our faults.  But we ask You to do it anyway and reveal anything that is hindering an intimate relationship with You.  Show us the things that are keeping us from claiming the peace and joy that You promise to those who love You.  We know that those who love You are the ones who obey Your commands (John 14:15, 21).  Change our hearts and make us willing to obey.  Help us to delight in You!  Make Your will our will!  Lord, we ask that You would draw us closer.  When we stray off the path You’ve placed before us lead us back.  We love You so much, but we want to love You more.  We trust You, but we want to trust You completely. Transform us into the likeness of Your Son.  It is in the blessed, beautiful name of Jesus that we pray.  Amen.