Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Taking the Next Step


“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7 NIV)

From working many years with college students who have grown up in the church, one gets a sense of what churches are teaching, or at least the messages being received by, the young people passing through.  One message is obvious: You must receive Jesus into your life to be saved.   The vast majority of students with whom I have worked have understood this message when they walked onto campus for the first time.  Most have embraced it as their own.  No doubt the church has this message down and proclaims it well.

But Paul also instructs us to continue to live in Him, to root ourselves deeply in a relationship with Him, to build ourselves into ever-growing spiritual maturity through that relationship, to continue to be strengthened by our faith, and to be so aware of the blessings of knowing Jesus to be continually overflowing with thankfulness.  And from what I have observed, this message either is not being proclaimed or is falling upon deaf ears.

The message seems to be that receiving Jesus is where one’s spiritual life begins and ends.  Nothing more is needed.  Sadly, this flies in the face of the teachings of Scripture and particularly what Paul says here.  It is like parents being satisfied with their babies merely standing instead growing up with the ability to walk and run.  

Paul’s message is, instead, that receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord is merely the beginning.  What is to follow is a lifelong commitment to grow in faith and maturity.  This involves getting to know Jesus through His Word, through having conversations with Him (aka: prayer), through spending time in meaningful conversations with fellow believers, and through living in obedience to the Lord’s commands.  The consistent practice of these strengthens faith and builds maturity over a lifetime, which is the point of beginning a new life.  Babies are born to grow up into adults.  In the same way, men and women who are born again (John 3:3) are meant to mature from spiritual babies into spiritual adults (Hebrews 5:11-6:3).  Receiving Jesus is the first necessary step, but it is only the first one.  

If you have believed that receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord is all that is needed, know you have only part of the message.  In fact, that is just the first step on a lifelong journey of spiritual growth and maturity. And there is no better time than now to begin taking the next steps.  For they are just as important as the first one.

© Jim Musser 2014

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