The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.
Colossians 1:27-28 (MSG)
Time is a key ingredient of training and growth. Hurry and impatience are not friends in the process of becoming more and more our true self—the self who individually bears the image of God.
Growing up, we had a doorway in our kitchen that held the pencil marks, names, and dates of measured growth for my two brothers and me. About every six months my dad would shout out, “Line up! Measure up!” We would stretch out, and almost always we would hear, “No tippy toes—heels down.” There were some pretty significant growth spurts marked on that wall. I could always tell when I had grown—the amount of sock and shoe not covered by my jeans gave it away.
Becoming like Christ is supposed to be as natural a journey for the Apprentice of Jesus as a boy growing up into a man. We will grow either way; into who and what is the question. Partnering with him makes all the difference in the world.
If you have given Jesus your yes, if you have consented to the journey of following Him and growing up into the man He created you to be, then you are one of His Apprentices.
In what areas is He growing and maturing you into your true self?
What is He inviting you to partner with Him in?
An excerpt from The Heart of a Warrior Journal Workbook.
