Our dear son Nathan is now two and a half years. This age is commonly known as the ‘Terrible Two’s’! Blazing with energy, he remains hyper active throughout the day and night (except when he is sleeping of course). His tantrums and fun times seem equally distributed! His actions and reactions become unpredictable as he behaves for one moment, and is exactly the opposite at the next. In my effort to ‘streamline’ his behavior, I started a reward mechanism where every time he behaved, he would be rewarded with a Star (sticker).
His face beamed with excitement as he got his initial few stars and this ‘good boy syndrome’ continued for a few days. He would proudly point out his hard earned collection to his grandparents and anyone who would give him an ear, as he explained in his 2 year old language that ‘Nathan is a good boy!’ Gradually, the excitement decreased as he earned ‘sooo many stars’ according to him and he was happy with what he had and didn’t work towards more in spite of my gentle reminders.
Many of us are like this in our walk with God. Think back to the time when we came to know Jesus as our Savior…everything was so exciting, every blessing seemed like a miracle, and every close door seemed like an opportunity to knock on the doors of faith. Every answered prayer, revelation, prophecies and visions became a stronghold to build your tower of faith. But somewhere along the way, things got so familiar and we started getting saturated with our little ‘victories’ in our life. In spite of reminders from God to ‘Press on towards the goal’, we dwell on the past victories and find ourselves comfortable with it. Sometimes a thought such as ‘we have achieved enough’ creeps into our hearts and we are settled with that.
But is that what God expects from us? Like every parent who loves to watch their child grow, isn’t it important that we allow ourselves to grow in His knowledge and go from glory to glory?
Reinhard Bonnke once said,-
“Jesus will lift you out of the deepest pit, but would not lift you out of your easy chair”.
We need to have Apostle Paul’s attitude as mentioned in Philippians 3:12- 14,
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
As a parent, I certainly want my son to keep learning and growing day by day. How much more our heavenly Father wants us to continue to live our lives in Him, rooted and strengthened in the faith! (Colossians 2: 6, 7).
Do we have testimonies of victory to share in the present or are they just in the past? Let us forget what is behind and push forward for what is ahead- for a greater purpose, for greater glory. May we strive to know HIM more and better every day.
Thank you Phebe for this wonderful reading. This is a gentle reminder from God to continue in my growth to spiritual maturity. God bless your family.
Thank you Jeffin 🙂