Truth is....God is not cool with 20 year old babies

As new parents, my wife and I are kind of learning along the way.  There are a lot of changes occuring in our lives.  Our sleep schedules have definitely been altered, and I've learned when the diaper is being changed  the gun must be covered (if not the outcome could be rough).  Sometimes our eating schedules have to change if Jude gets hungry, and we definitely drive more carefully.  Movies have even been interrupted by explosions of poop that call for immediate bath time and pretty much our whole lives revolve around taking care of our son. 

This is nothing new for parents.  Our son will be 4 weeks old tomorrow, and even though he is growing like crazy, he can't take care of himself.  Jude can't raise his head on his own or roll over, much less change his own diaper or prepare a bottle for himself.  Why?  Even though I consider my son to be very advanced, he's still a baby! 

Now, lets take a look into the future and imagine that Jude is 12 years old.  What if at 12 years old Jude is still crying loudly in the middle of the night for us to come bring him a bottle?  What if at 12 years old he's still setting in a wet diaper and waiting on us to change him?  What if he's still the same size, and you still find my wife and I holding him in our laps, patting him on the back to ensure he burps, and he still coos, but he's never spoken a single word?  Wouldn't it be crazy to see my 12 year old son still riding in a car seat?

If my son, never grew from 4 weeks to the age of 12, there would be something seriously wrong.  We all know that it's normal for individuals to develop both physically and mentally as we age.  Although we all develop at different paces and in different ways, growth is a normal part of life.  Mental development is something that is always occuring and none of us get to a point where we've arrived, until death. 

It's been over 12 years since Jesus Christ completely changed my life.  I definitely don't have all the answers, and God's still teaching me everyday.  I can say that Jesus Christ is faithful, and I've experienced more joy and fulfillment in him then I have experienced or will experience in anything else in my life.  His grace is real.  His forgiveness is real.  His love is real.  His judgement is real.  His power is real not just for the afterlife, but to experience now.  I've found that I can be my completely screwed up flawed self without any fronts or shows, and he accepts me the way that I am and offers a personal relationship with the creator of the universe.

One problem that I've noticed in the church is that many people have decided that it is pefectly fine to walk an aisle at one point in their life, pray a prayer and then the rest of their spiritual growth will be determined by listenting to the pastor.  Somewhere along the way, that's become acceptable?   Like people are putting in their time by listenting to a pastor (the Professional Christian), so there's nothing else required of them, and so people set in church for 10, 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years and that's the basis of their Christian life.  So we have Christians that are essentially still babies.  These are followers of Christ that say that God is the most important thing in their life, but they never spend any time with him.  Christians who say that God is the most important thing in their life, but they've never shared their faith with a non-Chrisitan.  People who claim that they are Christians (little Christs), and there is no differnce between the way they live their lives and the lives of non-Christians.

Hebrews 5:11-14  "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need sometone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Just like physical and mental growth is natural part of life, spiritual growth is an essential part of the Christian life.  Spiritual growth is  not something that can be manufactured and it's not something that happens overnight.  I'm not talking about being a moral person cause we're all screwed up, and we all know that we've got baggage.  I'm talking about placing your hope and faith in Christ on a daily basis, taking up your cross (Luke 9:23), daily dying to yourself and allowing God to shape you and mold you so that you can bear fruit (John15:5) and become more like Christ.

The truth is God is not cool with 20 year old babies!  God has so much planned for your life. He wants you to grow from being a new baby in Christ, to becoming a powerful man or woman of God!  I'm right there with you.  I've got pride and laziness and all sorts of idols and sin issues I'm battling on a daily basis.  I'm far from perfect, but you and I can never experience the life that God has planned for us without staying connected to Him through prayer, study and following him on a daily basis and allowing him to work in and through us!  So if you're a believer, meaning you've made the decison at one time or another to place your hope and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, take a step toward Jesus tonight. He loves you exactly how you are but he cares about you so much that he doesn't want you to stay that way.  He's faithful, and he's good!  

Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ!"