Grow up !

Have you ever had someone say to you “Grow up !”   Our neighbors love fireworks and once in a great while I shoot off a few myself.  On the fourth of July I did and my neighbor playfully shouted over, “Hey, grow up !”  Simeon the Stylite was a fifth century monk who had the idea that if he sat atop a pole he would be able to remove himself from the world and its connections and thus achieve holiness. Sitting atop his isolated & lofty perch, young men would bring him food each day. He had a small platform on which to lay and this he did for 39 years and there he died !  Clearly, he had the wrong idea.  We’re to be IN the world not OF it !

Sometimes we are like Simeon though. We have the wrong idea of how to be holy. Sometimes we’re not even sure how to get there or if we really want to.  So we extract ourself from others so they won’t see our “skeletons”. Or we look at others who we consider growing Christians and avoid interaction with them, the very people we need to learn from and be near to encourage more growth in us ! We may perceive we’re not growing or not as well as someone else. So dont stay there and withdraw, draw close to Christ and those who are growing ! Paul wrote to the Thessalonian and Corinthian believers to be followers of him but in 1Cor.11:1 he clarified what he truly meant when he said “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ !”  That’s the real key, to follow Christ.  

So each day I spend time with Him in His Word, I obey it through the day, I prayerfully ask for His strength and stay in fellowship with Him (which means keeping myself unspotted from the world – confessing sin when I mess up). Stay in the battle  !  Keep growing for the Lord and realize that part of that is not “separating” from others as some extreme ascetic. Enjoy & get to know your brothers and sisters in Christ, they can play a key role in your own growth and you in there’s !