“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.” Amen. II Peter 3:18 (NKJV) It has always been the desire of the Father for us to grow in our relationship with Him through our relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord. This desire of the Father is no less than his desire for His own son to grow in His relationship with Him. “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” Luke 2:40 (NKJV) From the time of our new birth the expectation is clear that we not stay in a perpetual state of infancy but as with anything that holds life, in order to sustain it, there must be constant and consistent growth and maturity. It is equally important in our spiritual lives but for reasons that are often unknown, we fail to meet this all too important desire of our Heavenly Father. The picture is quite clear if we fail to grow, mature, and develop in our walk with God and our relationship with Him what good are we for the kingdom? We may as well not exist at all. We get “caught up” at times in the “things” that we believe are emblematic of growth only to realize at a later date that we have actually not grown at all in our relationship with God because we have used the wrong standard to measure our growth and maturity. The Apostle Peter admonishes and encourages a group of Christians, primarily Jews, who under vast amounts of pressure and persecution to grow. He also indicates the two areas of focus that would also serve as benchmarks if you will, to determine what growth if any has actually taken place. We must first grow in grace. Here the idea is that of God’s favor. To grow in grace you must be in constant reminder of God’s mercy. Mercy is missing what we rightfully desire when we come short of the glory of God. God grants us mercy, allowing us to miss what we deserve in order to give us what we don’t deserve and that is His grace or favor. To grow in grace means that we grow in appreciation of it and we don’t use it as a crutch when we fail to grow progressively in our relationship with God. Secondly, we must grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In order to grow in the knowledge of someone you must spend time with the one that you are seeking knowledge of. The word “knowledge” is defined in the original text as “the thought of knowledge acquired by learning, effort, and experience.” From the moment we are saved, we must pursue a lifelong quest to get to know Him who is life eternal. We should be committed to read His word each and every day to seek to learn something new about our infinite Lord. But, it takes time and placing our priorities in order. How else can you come to know Him? Two questions in the words of one pastor when he closes his Sunday morning sermon. Do you know Him? Have you ever tried Him? Ain’t He alright!
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:25:45 +0000
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