There is a point in time when maturity has reached its intended goal. After nine months in the womb a baby signals that it is time to be born. Hormones are released that start the physical changes that lead to labor and delivery. The time of baby being in the womb is over. It is time to breathe air, learn, interact, talk, walk, experience joys and sorrows, fall in love and perhaps get married and have children of its own.
When a farmer plants seed it is done with a purpose. They wouldn’t waste seed scattering it on the ground unless they were really stupid. They scatter seed in hopes that one day they will be able to go into the field and find that their seed has multiplied many times over. The goal of seed scattering is harvesting.
There is a hidden force behind the growth that takes place in our lives. Just like with a grain field there are things that can be done to enhance the growth of the grain. The farmer can add fertilizer to the field, the right mix of ingredients can maximize the production of grain. Pesticides can help reduce loss due to pests. But in the end, the growth is driven by other factors outside of the control of the farmer.
These other factors include sunlight, water at the proper times, and oxygen, none of which the farmer controls. There is also the internal plant instructions that keep the plant moving in the direction of harvest. The DNA signals turn on and off at the appropriate moments to help the plant change and do what needs to be done to prepare itself for the next stage of growth. All these things the farmer has no control over.
Our spiritual growth is the same way. We can be reading, studying and memorizing Scripture as part of our spiritual discipline. This is like the sunlight. It is the energy that drives our spiritual engine. Without the Word we can only grow for a very limited period of time. Like the seed, after the initial burst of growth, if there is no supplemental nutrition, the plant will wither and die. If our roots don’t sink deep into the source of our spiritual food, the Word, then we will be pitiful excuses for Jesus-followers. We will lack the spiritual depth to weather the inevitable storms in our spiritual lives.
We also need good teaching and fellowship. These are like the pesticides, killing off the disease carrying and fruitfulness destroying influences. When we are vitally connected to a church body, integrated into a small group and know by others, there is a protection there that can help protect us from these unseen dangers. It can be so easy to be deceived by the constant onslaught of politically correct propaganda and evolutionary nihilism that we lose focus and become unproductive and Jesus-followers. If we begin to believe their lies we will die spiritually. That is why having a church body that challenges us with the Word, and holds us accountable to each other is so vital.
If we are in the Word, connected to a Body, and keeping our vital connection with the Source through prayer, we will grow. I don’t know exactly how it works, but it does. Predictably. God will cause growth.
The Arnold Journey 