Turning Four!

Tonight Kim and I will be traveling to Maryland to celebrate our second grandson Jack’s fourth birthday. We can’t wait to see him and his brothers. And we can’t believe tomorrow he will be four! For sure, time flies. And a great reminder of how fast it goes is the coming and going of our children and grandchildren’s birthdays. 

Of course, from Jack’s perspective it has been a very long time between his third and fourth birthdays. Whereas for an adult (especially at my age), one year seems to go by so quickly, for Jack that one year has probably felt like an eternity. And I am sure, as the excitement towards his birthday has been building, these past few weeks have felt very, very long. That’s just one of the differences between what it means to be a child and an adult. As we mature, our sense of time significantly changes. And as much as we love what it means to be a child, and even celebrate childish ways among our children, we all know that no one is meant to stay a child or continue in childish ways all of their life—not physically, emotionally, intellectually, relationally, or spiritually. After all, remaining childish when we should be mature, will sabotage our lives and our relationships. 

The Apostle Paul, wrote, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” (1 Corinthians 13:11).  Paul’s point was that maturity brings a new perspective on life and spirituality and what is of utmost importance. 

Unfortunately, it’s so easy for any one of us, even as followers of Jesus, to remain immature in our thinking and perspective. We can focus a bit too much on things of lesser importance and miss those things that are of greatest importance. In our immaturity, we prioritize, for example, how much money we make, the car we drive, or the latest style of clothing—all things that will ultimately pass away. Within the church we focus on the style of worship, which Bible version should be read, whether or not we like the pastor’s preaching, etc.  As we move beyond our childish ways, however, our perspective and focus changes; we begin to set our eyes on eternity and those things that will last into eternity: faith, hope, and most especially love. ((vs. 13)

Let me encourage you to move beyond childish ways and allow God, by his Spirit and through his Word, to grow you and mature you into the man or woman that he would have you be. May your perspective on life and eternity cause you to live focused on those things that are of utmost importance: faith, hope, and love. After all, in God’s kingdom that’s what it means to move beyond childishness into true and godly maturity. 

Have a great day! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

- Pastor Tim Harris