It’s that time of year again in El Paso! It’s like our weather sweet spot, where it’s not incredibly hot anymore, but not really cold yet, you could call it our pseudo-fall. This is the time of year where it’s perfect to venture outdoors and really get in tune with nature. And by “in tune with nature” I mean take your kids to a corn maze out in the middle of no where, get first degree sunburns on your neck and fight with some “AWA”s aka allergies with an attitude!
Of course spending time with my family is well worth risking a sunburn and a runny nose, as a matter of fact, please allow me to digress for a Public Service Announcement:
Quality time with your family is always worth the effort and sacrifice! Please make an effort to invest in those that matter most! They are a gift from God to us, and they are our first ministry!
Ok, back to my sunburn and allergies. As I was enjoying time with my family, I couldn’t help but notice something, Caleb (my son) really wasn’t enjoying himself as much as I thought he would. You see, the way the attractions were set up at the corn maze, there seems to have been a specific age group in mind. I say that because, as fun as the maze was, Caleb was either too small or didn’t fully understand how to completely enjoy everything that was set up for him. I paid the admission for him, the fun was all available to him, but it became readily apparent that for him to really enjoy it, he would just have to grow into it.
That really made think of what I’ve been sharing with you lately about our identity in Christ and how in Him we have so many…wait let me correct that, we don’t have many, we have EVERY spiritual blessing, Paul says it like this:
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” Ephesians 1:3 (NLT)
The Word of God declares that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. The context of “blessed with” literally means, “to have placed upon”. So you can say that every spiritual blessing has already been “placed upon” our lives because we are in Christ Jesus.
Most of these spiritual blessings are outlined in the subsequent verses of Ephesians 1. So, if we are not enjoying these benefits, we are totally missing out on the fact that:
- We are chosen.
- We are predestined as God’s children.
- His grace has accepted us in the Beloved.
- We have access to the redemption, forgiveness and riches of His grace.
- Wisdom and providence abound on our lives
Wow! All of the above, plus so much more, has already been placed in our lives! So why is it then that more believers don’t walk in the benefit of every spiritual blessing? I submit to you, that while God is never-changing, and ever-constant, we are continuously in flux. We are growing and developing every day.
Like my son at the corn maze, we too have access to blessings and things placed before us for our enjoyment, but for some, we may have to grow into them to truly understand and fully enjoy. Paul said it this way to the church in Philippi:
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
I believe what Paul is saying is this: that all God things, which are good things, have already been placed on our lives, and they have been given to us in their fullness. Our lives however, are in the process of being completed. The word “complete” that Paul uses points to the word “perfected” or “matured”. In other words, God has established and placed good things in our life, however we constantly live in a maturation process. As we mature, we grow into the fullness of the “good things” God intended for us. As we grow into maturity as believers, we understand and enjoy the goodness of God in our lives more fully. Essentially,we grow from faith to faith and from glory to glory!
What a powerful truth! That as I grow in Christ, my understanding and enjoyment of who I am in Him, and what I have in Him, should NOT diminish but it should increase! As I mature, I don’t become passive in my faith, I become bolder! Boldness is not just for new Christians, I venture to say that the more mature we are in our walk with Christ, the bolder we should be! We are growing into the fullness of His goodness!
When we go back to the corn maze next year, the truth is, the sunburn and the runny nose will probably be an issue again. But, do you know what I’m looking forward to? As a father, I’m looking forward to my son being able to enjoy the maze activties more next year, than he was able to this year. The same way, I believe our Heavenly Father has things in His mind for you and I, things that He just can’t wait for us to understand and enjoy as our lives unfold. Don’t give up! You’ll grow into it!
Live extraordinarily!
Jared
