Christian Growth

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Second Peter 3:17-18 says, “ Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

     We often hear about the speeches that leaders give which are sometimes called the “state of the  union.”  It is a pep talk on all the things we are doing at that moment.  Usually, the state of the union is not the desired end of things.  We have certain utopian ideas of what we want to be in the end but just give the current condition.  I do a lot of things in life that I wish I was doing  better at such as playing the karimba or the alto recorder or even my saxophone.  I have a long way to go in any of those instruments , but day by day, some get a little better now and then.

     The Christian life is no different.  We have the desire to be perfect or complete and have everything down pat, but it is a long process.  Our standing with God is perfect due to the shed blood for the payment of our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The stark contrast comes when we realize the fact that we are not complete at this moment, in this earthly body on earth.  That should not stop us from trying to get it right by applying God’s Word to our lives on a daily basis.  There are some things in life that seem to plague each and every person.  They won’t always be the same things for every person.  One of my areas of concern is the matter of patience.  I tend to be impatient with people especially when they don’t follow through with what the promised to do.  We all know the Scriptures that say that tribulation works patience.  When you want to pray for patience, then you are going to get tribulation as it is the means by which you can practice your patience.  It  goes on and on in my life.  The more I long to be patient, the more I find people not showing up for even the smallest of things, such as my twice a week shower.  It is scheduled for Tuesday and Friday at 9:30 but almost never takes place at that time and sometimes I just struggle in my small bathroom with a bathtub in it, to get in and do the shower myself rather than waiting for the nurse's aid to do it for me.  Yesterday, Kroger sent my food order with six half gallons of milk that was not ordered.  There goes the patience again as I try to explain on the phone that I Didn't order any milk at all.  Nevertheless, the above passage exhorts us to grow and that we should accomplish each and every day of our lives.  Praise God for His patience with us.