Recently, I was at my daughter’s school for their Open House. While going through her notes and interacting with her class teacher, my daughter was just climbing and jumping all over me. The teacher tried signalling her to stop, she did not get the hint. Later, the teacher reported her to her mum. Her mum told her; “You better grow up! Are you still a baby?” She responded with No. But I learnt a lesson.
Friend, what does it really mean to grow up, in God? Does it mean you would outgrow “climbing and jumping all over God”? Does it mean you would package before God and not bother Him on issues of your life? Does it mean you would outgrow depending on Him? Does it mean you would stop loving up on Him?
Maturity in the physical is seen in less dependence on people. Whereas, in the spiritual, maturity is seen in more dependence on God. A truly mature person depends more on God than he does years back. He trusts God more. He relies on God than he does on himself (Proverbs 3:5-6). He receives instructions from God and not posture as an expert.
Like Jesus, you should be able to unashamedly say that you can do nothing by yourself (John 5:30). If Jesus who was and is still God could say that, what about you? That looks like the statement of a weak man, but it is actually the statement of a strong man. Strong men function from weakness (Hebrews 11:34).
God wants us to receive and live in the kingdom as a child (Mark 10:15). A child is a symbol of trust and dependence. It is a show of dependency. Whereas, God does not want us to behave childish, He wants us to remain childlike (1 Corinthians 13:11). God wants us to remain childlike in faith, attitude and character.
God does not have favourites, He only has intimates (Acts 10:34-35, Romans 2:11). We all would choose how we want to relate with God. John the beloved chose to rest on Jesus’s chest, the other disciples chose otherwise (John 13:21-26). He ended up cultivating an intimacy with Jesus that none of the other disciples enjoyed (Revelation 1:1, 10). It was his choice. Grow up, but don’t grow apart from God. Selah!
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria