I am not there yet

 We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. (Colossians 1:28 MSG)

We preach Christ - nothing more, certainly nothing less. This is the message of a life transformed by the power of Christ. This is our calling on this earth - to be living, breathing examples of his grace, goodness, and love. Why does God use 'living testimonials' of his grace? To draw people who are riddled with hurts, hangups, and habits to himself. As they enter into relationship with him, he uses each of us to help one another grow up into mature believers. We may think our lives are our own, but God made us to relate one to another, bringing each other nearer and nearer to him as we do.

To be mature is to be basic. That might seem like a bit of an oxymoron. A 'newbie' to any process or practice is likely immature in that process or practice, right? They know the basics at best. A 'seasoned' individual is likely more aware of the subject and is like a 'mentor' to those who start out knowing only the basics. Yet we are told to be mature in Christ is really just like knowing the basics! Maybe that will help someone today who doesn't believe they are 'maturing' in Christ - feeling like they haven't 'arrived' at that level of 'spiritual depth' that they think they should have achieved by now. The 'basics' are learned over time in this spiritual walk.

We develop slowly at times, while growing leaps and bounds at others. Have you ever noticed that calamity drives us closer to God, while ease might allow us to be a little complacent in our journey? Leaps in calamity, tiny steps in ease. The goal is to be mature - but God knows we need to assimilate our growth. We won't find that our old choices 'fit' any longer when we move from one step to another in our spiritual growth. It is just like when we grow physically - we find what 'fit' before doesn't always 'fit' now. As we grow in Christ, the 'fit' changes. We find newness along the way, discovering that we are learning the 'basics' of our walk all over time and time again.

This is why God tells us, "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT) We should never think we 'haven't arrived' yet. None of us is beyond learning the basics of God's goodness, grace, and love. We need them to be new every morning, don't we? Just sayin!