1 Peter 2:2-3, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” From the moment we enter this world we are growing. From a baby to toddler, toddler to youth and youth to adulthood. Physically it is the process of life.

In Central Asia, there is a warlike tribe that involves a certain curse they will use against their enemies. They do not call down fire from the heavens or launch insults or threaten violence. They simply will say, “May you stay in one place forever.” What a condemnation! Meaning our hope is that you will never come to the place where you will grow to be able to defeat us. Stay where you are at!

And yet, as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, if we do not keep growing in a spiritual sense, that is what happens to us. If we are just going through the motions of Christianity, doing church, looking good on the outside and not being continually transformed on the inside we are essentially stagnant or just standing still. If we are not careful any one of us can reach a certain point in our spiritual lives where we stop thriving. We may reach a plateau where we just stop climbing. And this is not where we ought to be.

God does not want us to plateau, but to grow in grace, in knowledge, in wisdom, in love and effectiveness with Jesus Christ! 2 Peter 3:10-18, “But, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

Psalm 92:12, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; ¹³ planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, ¹⁵ proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Paul described the church not in bricks, wood or mortar but, as a spiritual building which he said in Ephesians 2:21, “In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”

Peter commands every believer to grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Each day we are either growing towards Jesus or we are distancing ourselves further and further away from Him. We are becoming loving or more hardened, more joyful, or more depressed. We are either becoming more biblical or illiterate to the Word of God. We are either becoming more patient or less patient. The question we must ask ourselves is, “In which direction are we (am I) moving?” Let me encourage you not to get stuck in your spiritual journey, but desire the pure milk of the Word, commit yourself to study & memorization of the Scriptures. And by that you will grow towards God!

In Him, Your Pastor,

Jeffrey Turcotte